Speak Soft
by MeredithBrody
Summary: James is taken hostage while reporting on a cult in Texas, and Brody goes to help the FBI reach a settlement. (Brames)(s2 canon divergence)
1. Chapter 1

**Hey there folks. I was going to wait until tomorrow to post this... buuuuut I just really wanted to get going with this. So. This story is named for a song on the album "Never Happy, Ever After" by As It Is. If you like Brody/James I seriously recommend getting on Spotify or YouTube and listening to the album the whole way through because every song can be related to them. (Especially "Can't Save Myself"). This story is 20 chapters, and gets pretty hairy, but there is a happy ending I promise. This story also includes FBI Special Agent Bethan Callahan and her team, whom I introduced in "Welcome To Wherever You Are".  
 _This is set around... 3 months after "Everything Old is New Again" and "I Have Loved You From The Start". Enjoy._  
Shin xx**

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Meredith Brody hated being the panicky girlfriend, it just wasn't who she normally was. It didn't seem to matter what assignment James got, she worried. It was a stupid thing to worry about right now, she was just trying to get over the fact that it had only been three months since Baitfish had threatened them all. Thankfully, James was being quite patient with her current overprotectiveness. "Babe, it'll be fine." He reassured her, but somehow she was still feeling something to pick at.

"You said that before." She muttered, passing him another shirt. While she might be overprotective, she also knew her opinion and worries weren't going to stop him doing his job. She knew he was worried about her job too, but that wasn't going to stop her. They both respected that.

"Yeah, and I was fine." He took the shirt and rolled it into his bag. She wasn't sure when this had become a tradition for them. When they were first together she'd never helped him pack, but since they'd started again, she liked this time. As for James being fine, that only seemed to happen when he had good security. "I was safe."

"You were working for the BBC then." She argued. She'd never really worried when he was with the BBC, or when he was working for MSNBC. She didn't really know why she was worrying now, but she was. It was just all so raw still.

"I'm not exactly working for a community paper now." He replied and kissed her gently, stopping her from continuing to complain. When he pulled back she just glared at him and hoped he'd realise how much his attitude was pissing her off. "Look, I know you've seen things like this go south, but what are the odds? I will be fine." He took hold of her hands and kissed them both with a smile.

"James, you only just moved to New Orleans." That was her real problem, wasn't it? He was leaving the city. There was absolutely no chance that she was going to admit that to anybody else, but that was the problem.

"This is an assignment in Texas, not Syria." That was another good point. It was the neighbouring state. He was going less than 200 miles, and they weren't going to be horrifically far apart. She was still grumpy about it. "I'll be home in a week."

"Fine." She felt her bottom lip stick out slightly before she even thought about it. She just didn't really want him to leave. Being back in a week wasn't enough, she would miss him now.

James looked at her and then burst out laughing. She wondered what he found so funny, that was until he came and put his thumb on her bottom lip. "Are you pouting?" He chuckled, and she tried to change her face and deny it.

"No." She tried. It didn't work and she could tell that, but she was going to try to keep it up. Brody was stubborn when she wanted to be, and it was fun to be stubborn around James.

"I can see it." He laughed a few seconds later then kissed her again and went back to arranging his bag. The fact that he could see through her was actually refreshing, even if she liked to pretend she hated it.

"Fine, maybe I am." She finally admitted. She could tell him right now that she had become accustomed to having him in this house, and in her bed. It was going to be strange waking without his arms wrapped around her. "I just got used to waking up in the same bed."

"I will be back in a week, and I have a month before I file. So I'll be here for a while." That was a relief, and some of the best news she could possibly have gotten. She had, without doubt, gotten far too used to James just being there. She'd been helping him look for an apartment, but she'd figured something out that wouldn't fit so he had to stay longer.

"Good." Brody was genuinely happy that James wasn't going to have to leave them for a long time. She hated enough that he left for assignments, but she knew that the nature of photojournalism meant that he needed to travel around the world to get the best shots, and the best angles. At least he was coming back.

"Are you gonna miss me?" James asked with a little twinkle in his eye. Brody recognised that look. He wanted to trick her into saying yes. There were no tricks needed. She genuinely would miss him.

"Maybe." She wanted to say yes, why couldn't she just say yes? She knew that she would miss James for every minute he was gone. She'd ignore it, pretend she didn't, but she would. In her mind she'd wonder what he was doing, just as she had during the years they were apart. "You'll miss me more though."

"That's a given." He smiled and began zipping his bag up. That was when she walked over with a handful of boxer shorts and socks and stuffed them in the top. He kissed her cheek in thanks and smiled. Then the smile dropped and James looked at her seriously. "Don't you have to be at work?"

Brody looked at her watch and realised that the 'morning off' Pride had given her had quickly faded away as she'd been here. That meant she was going to be needed back in their office soon. "Yeah. Are you driving?"

"I don't have a car, I was gonna get the train." James was, at times, so wonderfully British it made her laugh. She decided that he just didn't know exactly how bad the public transport in the US could be. If he tried to get a train to where he was going he'd probably never get there.

"Take mine, if I need a car I'll borrow one from work." James was insured on her car, they had already made sure of that. She was also insured on all the car insurance policies for the NOLA NCIS office. Which was probably good given how often Pride asked her to do things in that care that she needed the insurance for.

"You can do that?" James seemed to be completely confused by the fact that she could just borrow a car from work and not have to worry about it. She was sure if he got a company car he'd probably be exactly the same.

"Sure, as long as I don't use the lights and sirens." She had never needed to use them in a personal setting, and she doubted she would. No matter how long they took to work it out, they lights weren't necessary for her borrowing.

"I never knew that." James smirked, then looked at her like the cat who got the cream. "Yet more things to keep in mind when I write my crime novel."

She laughed a little and shook her head. She had heard a little about this book over the last few days, and while she was happy to give him technically information and explain how interrogations worked, but she wasn't doing more than that."I'm not helping you with that."

"Of course not." James smirked, and Brody wondered if he was just mocking her at this point. She'd probably deserve it if he was mocking her. He knew by now that was a line she wasn't going to cross

"I'm not." He leant in and kissed her softly, nibbling on her bottom lip the way she loved. Of course he knew that was the way to get her to give in. "OK but I'm not giving you any case details." Brody was certain he already knew that, but telling him anyway would make her feel better about it.

"Wouldn't dream of asking for them." He commented a second later. It wasn't needed, but it made her feel better knowing he'd tell her anyway.

"Good." She laughed lightly, glad that he was still teasing her about this idea. She had no idea if he was seriously writing this book he joked about, but either way she was only going to help to a point, and he knew not to ask her for details.

James walked to the door and put his bag down. She wasn't looking at him but she knew he'd stopped walked. She didn't need to look at him to know what he was doing. After a minute he spoke. "Hey."

"What?" She sighed, wondering what quip he was going to come out with about how she'd been acting. Instead when she turned she just saw the puppy look he had on his face sometimes when he watched her.

"I love you." He told her, and unlike the first time they were together, she didn't doubt him now. Generally, James said it once a day, and she didn't reply often. He might not be into chocolates and flowers, but he did like to let her know he loved her. She was genuinely happy about that too.

"Yeah, yeah." She smiled, pressing her forehead to his. They just stood like that or a moment and she knew that when he came back from this assignment it was time they had a serious conversation about what was going on with them.

"I'll see you in a week." He kissed her again, and she felt all her annoyance at him evaporate. He'd made New Orleans his home base for her, and while he was looking for his own apartment, she knew that eventually she was just going to ask him to officially live with her. It had only been a month since he'd come back to the city, but she had gotten used to him being around, and even the things that annoyed her made her feel like home. She'd made the right choice.


	2. Chapter 2

**This is essentially any Brit who spends an amount of time in the US.  
Shin xx**

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It seemed so typical that he was lost when Merri finally called to check up on him. He'd honestly expected her call more than an hour earlier, and he wondered if she'd maybe gotten a case. If she had that would stop her worrying about him because she'd have somewhere else to focus her energies. He was glad she'd called, but he was also arguing with his satnav, and he was fairly sure she didn't want to hear that fight. "MB, I can't really talk right now." He answered, hoping that she'd leave it at that. Of course he wasn't that lucky.

"I just wanted to see if you'd gotten there yet?" She asked, all sweetness and light. That was when he remembered he was in her car, and there was a tracker in her car that connected to the NCIS office. No doubt she knew exactly where he was, probably better than he did.

"That would be a no." He looked at the satnav again, and the little screen there seemed to even be saying 'no idea, you're on your own bro', which was not helpful. Everything out here looked the same, and he hadn't seen a single person in more than half an hour. "Where the hell is this place?"

"Are you lost?" He heard the laughter in the background and realised that she must have still been at work. Given the varying tones he guessed LaSalle, Percy and Pride were all there, and probably enjoying laughing at him as much as Merri would be.

"Would you judge me if I said yes?" He decided that making a joke out of it himself was the better way to go here. If he didn't, she'd make an even bigger joke of it and he'd end up not being able to laugh about it. They had played this game more than once.

"Yes." She said honestly, and it was nice to know that he was going to be judged either way was actually liberating. He was happy to hear her laughing, even if it was at his expense. When she finally stopped laughing at him she had a nice enough offer. "You know we could help you out on our end. LaSalle is all raring to go."

"Oh yes, my federal agent girlfriend helping me find an isolationist cult." He shook his head and chuckled at that whole idea. He was sure the members of the cult would find it even funnier, after they beat the shit out of him. "That'll go over well."

"Hey I was offering to be nice." She was laughing again. He couldn't even be mad at her when she was laughing like that. It had been a long time since he'd heard her laughing so freely, and he was glad that she was again.

"You realise you called me and I've been gone less than six hours." He decided it was time to get his own back on her, or try to at least. This was some of the most fun he'd had in a long time.

"Are you implying I missed you?" She asked, a teasing tone coming across again, she was on to him. The one thing he noticed was that just hearing her voice made him miss her more. He was the sappy, pathetic one in their relationship this time around, though he was still never really going to be that guy.

"Wouldn't dream of it love." He laughed, and at that moment he saw a barn in roughly the right place for where he should be looking for this farm. He wondered if this was right or if he'd be getting back in and calling Merri back, eating humble pie and asking for help. "Oh, I think I found it."

"You have?" She asked, and she could tell just from the way she asked that that she hadn't been paying attention and was a little surprised. He had to admit, he wasn't the best at directions, it was why he normally had an assistant with him.

He rolled his eyes at the phone, he wouldn't have said he thought he'd found it if he hadn't found it. He knew that she'd be checking his location too. No doubt it was going to lead to this place being on a list, but he didn't care that much. "I have. I'll call you later." He had promised to check in with her and his editor at least once a day.

"Alright. I, you know." She hadn't really been ready to say that she loved him again yet. They'd said it to each other a lot when she'd visited him in Dubai, and he knew it held as true now as it had then. She just wasn't quite as ready to say it now they were home and still working things out. Implying it seemed to be working so far, and he had no problem telling her.

"I know. Me too." He smiled, hitting the end call button and getting out of the car. Almost as soon as he did there was a man and two women coming up to him. He guessed the man a decade or so older than him, maybe just past his 50th birthday. The women were both far younger. Probably late-20s at the most. "Ben Baxter?" He asked, hoping he kept the distaste out of his tone.

"You must be the journalist?" The man spoke, and that told him that he was right. Baxter approached with his hand outstretched, and considering James had been in the presence of dictators and military masterminds and not been creeped out, he was finding the atmosphere around this cult leader very strange. Something about him just set James' internal alarm off. He'd need to keep an eye on him.

"Yes, James Lathom." He continued on as if nothing was bothering him. Something that had become second nature after so long working the way he had. Decades in the media had to help you build walls. It was how you sectioned off your life.

"You were on your phone when you arrived?" Baxter asked, and that was when James realised that they really were suspicious of everyone. Probably not that surprising when you lived your entire life in the middle of nowhere being told that everyone was out to get you.

"My girlfriend." He smiled, hoping to make some kind of connection with Baxter. In situations like this, Merri was always a schoolteacher. She always had been. While he'd never reported on a cult before, he'd been in plenty of situations where Merri being a federal agent would be detrimental.

"You a cop?" Was the next question asked. Not was Merri a cop, not had he brought the cops, but was he, himself, a cop. The idea was ludicrous, but again, the suspicion here made him think that bursting out laughing would actually be a bigger issue than him actually being a cop would be.

He narrowed his eyes and shook his head. Maybe Merri was beginning to rub off on him if someone thought he was a cop. He would never have lasted doing the things that Meredith did. He also didn't have the discipline to keep as physically fit or trained as she did. "No, I'm a journalist." Was really all he could say.

"Can't be too careful." That was obvious. Then Baxter came up and patted him down, obviously checking for a weapon. "Don't want no cops here."

"I'm just here to talk to you all, my editor talked to you about the segment." He knew for a fact that his editor had spent an hour on the phone, and Baxter had been an odd one even then.

"You're trying to help the American public understand people like us." It was at that moment Baxter looked at him and narrowed his eyes, maybe finally realising James' accent, or maybe he just asked this of any visitor. "Are you even American?"

"I am not." He shook his head, pretty sure this was going to be the first make-or-break question. He wasn't going to lie though and pretend he was. He was proud of his heritage. "I'm British."

"Maggie, they sent us a Brit." Baxter said to one of the two girls who giggled at being addressed by their leader.

"Is that a problem?" He asked. There were a great many people who weren't happy to have a Brit interviewing them, so it really wouldn't bother him either way. He could pass on his notes and an American could be here in a week.

"No, you're probably gonna be fairer on us than any American they could have sent." Baxter seemed confident about that. James himself did not share that confidence. Maybe Baxter just didn't understand the British, or just didn't think much about America, he didn't know.

James shook his head, already feeling a little uncomfortable at the guns all around. Given that he had covered some of the most deadly gun rampages in the UK, he wasn't sure he could be fair to them. Cumbria, Northumberland and Dunblane, he'd been at all three. "I wouldn't be so sure about that, I reported on Derrick Bird." He referenced the first in his internal list, not entirely sure that anyone would understand the reference.

"He run some sort of religion?" Baxter asked, and James was not surprised that he'd been right. Of course there was no knowledge.

"No he... never mind." It wasn't worth explaining it. Nor was it worth telling the story of his experiences in Cumbria that day. The whole county had been shut down, as had most of the surrounding ones. He didn't need to relive that again.

"We'll show you around, and get you set up in a room." Baxter clicked his fingers and the two women both walked away. James didn't see exactly where they went, but he did see that people were coming out of the buildings and going back to what they must have been doing before he arrived. He was watching them when Baxter spoke to him again. "Then you can reassure your girl you got here fine."

"Thanks. She'd be happy about that." He knew she would be too. Brody tended to work herself up sometimes, and he knew that was because of her job and the things she'd seen. He was often as protective of her for a similar reason, but she didn't need to be. This time he wasn't going to risk himself. He'd lost her because of that once before, and he wasn't keen to try that again.


	3. Chapter 3

**Anyone who read "Welcome To Wherever You Are" will remember Beth and her team. You get to know them a little better in this one.  
Shin xx**

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This case had gone surprisingly well. There had been simple arrests, and nobody had been shot. For Bethan Callahan, that was a win. She'd been counted as one of the FBI's top counter-terrorism experts for years, but it was only in the last few months she'd gotten her own team. Archer, Hernandez, Robinson and Fletcher were all good agents, and as a team they all worked well together. As they were packing up her cell sounded, and she had to answer given that it was their section leader Toby Friedman. "Callahan."

"You still in Texas?" There was no 'hello', no 'how was the case'. Just a straight request. Beth wondered what could have gone wrong. Generally she only got a call like this if they were needed somewhere urgently.

"Yeah." There was no point boring him with details if he didn't want to hear them, and he clearly didn't want to hear them. Not that she blamed him. The worst part of being a team leader was that she had to listen to the cases and complaints of the other team leaders. She was notorious for not paying attention in meetings.

"The local office is ready to raid on a cult there, out near the Louisiana border." That wasn't terribly far from where they were now at the San Antonio field office. She'd heard some rumblings that their team had something big on, but true to form, she hadn't paid all that much attention to rumours.

"Why?" That was the first thing that came to her mind. This clearly wasn't a terrorism case or she'd have been read in before coming to the state. That was standard practice. She'd learnt about something up toward Dallas, but nothing out toward the border with Louisiana.

"Human trafficking offences." Friedman said, and she heard the rustling of papers. Clearly he was no more in the know about this than she was. That didn't even surprise her, as she was pretty sure that Friedman didn't know about what his own agents were doing unless he was reminded. There was one point that remained, at least for her.

"I'm counter terrorism." She pointed out. There were some crossovers with both cults and human trafficking, but she wasn't read up on either.

"We know that. But there is an angle." Friedman clearly didn't care that she wasn't really equipped to handle this type of case. She was not an expert in cults or human trafficking. She had a working knowledge of both, though she admitted some of her knowledge of cults came from a Kathy Reichs novel set in 1997. Not exactly modern knowledge.

Callahan however, was unsurprised that there was an 'angle' as Friedman had so tactfully put it. They would make up the angle if needed. She also knew that. "It's a cult and it's in Texas. Of course there is an angle."

"Take your team out there. When you're in place they'll go." That told her something straight away, and she didn't need Friedman to say his next line. She knew already that he was putting her in charge. Something she didn't want. This was not a situation she knew enough about to be in charge, but she as. "We want you in charge."

"They won't come out peacefully you know." She pointed out. She'd seen enough cults to know that. She had read absolutely nothing about this cult, but she already knew that. They never came out peacefully.

"We know." At least that was something already recognised. Then they couldn't really blame her if things went wrong. She was pretty sure nothing would go wrong, but it was best to cover yourself. "Callahan just do what you usually do, I'm sending you the file."

"Fine." She sounded petulant and she didn't even care. She'd expected to be able to go home and cuddle with her girls and hold her son and actually get to have a conversation with her husband that didn't involve a phone. Instead she was off on another assignment. She then turned back and headed again to her team.

"We going home?" Hernandez asked, and Beth hated that she shook her head. It had been nearly a month since they'd been home, and their team needed a break. Maybe after this one they'd get that.

"Nope, we're going to the Louisiana border." She looked at the team and threw the keys to their resident speed racer. He was the best to drive and stay awake at this point of a case. "Archer, stick to the speed limit this time." Callahan decided it was worth at least reminding him.

"I hate speed limits." Archer groaned as he climbed in the driver door, and Beth had to admit that at least the advantage to travelling everywhere with their sirens on. He never hit anything.

"We noticed." Echoed around the car as they all slipped into their usual seats. Archer drove, Callahan in the passenger seat and the three agents in the back doing whatever work they needed to do. It actually generally ended up in Robinson and Fletcher sleeping while Hernandez complained about them snoring.

Callahan herself fell asleep on the four hour drive, during which time the sun set. While it had been an easy, relatively, case, she was still exhausted. Sleeping regularly was not something FBI agents ever really got to think about. She woke up shortly before they arrived there, just as Hernandez was waking the two in the back. She'd had time to stretch a little and think about how to approach this before they pulled up in the dark. "SSA Callahan?"

"That's me." She said coming ahead of the taller members of her team, which was almost all of them. Only Hernandez was shorter than her, but that was the way she liked it as it meant she could duck behind them when she didn't want to be seen.

"Special Agent Kyle Langston." He held his hand out to her and nodded. She shook it and the first thing that she noticed was that he had the weakest handshake she'd ever experienced. He then stepped back and motioned at his team. He was clearly very happy with them. "We'll be ready to go on your order."

"All FBI?" She asked, she didn't see another emblem, another cap or Kevlar. Everyone visible was most certainly FBI, and while that could be great for them, it wouldn't help so much if they needed other people to help out.

"Yeah." Langston nodded, clearly not at all following Callahan's train of thought, which maybe wasn't all that surprising, given that she had jumped that way somewhat randomly.

"Hernandez, use your charm on the local state police, have them on guard." Callahan had no idea what Hernandez did when it came to local police forces or state police, but she could convince them to do more than any other FBI agent she'd ever experienced. It was a huge bonus to have on her team. Looking between the remaining three she knew that Archer was best when it came to infiltration, that left her with her two sacrificial lambs. "Robinson, Fletcher. I want you two to be the visible ones."

"Sure Beth." They both said at the same time then glared at each other. That just caused her to laugh a little. They were like brother and sister, and she enjoyed seeing that dynamic when she was working, as it reminded her of her kids.

It was that moment Langston came toward her with a bullhorn and smiled a little. He was looking forward to this. She wondered if it was his first time or if he was just always excited about this. "You want to do the honour?" He asked, and she just shook her head strongly.

"No, I'm a foreigner." She knew in most situations like this it would help if a familiar or a local voice spoke. Which thankfully Langston had. It was going to help, she could see that. "You have a strong accent. It should be you."

"On your order then." He conceded, and she studied the area. Trying to work out how long before the press were here. How long before the lookie-loos and the nosy nellies. It wouldn't take long at all.

"Go." She nodded. Knowing that this was only just beginning, and she had a bad thought about it. The next few hours were critical.

"This is the FBI, we have your compound surrounded we have a warrant." Langston said clearly through the bullhorn. This was the moment that mattered the most at the beginning, how they reacted to the delivery of the warrant.

Beth squared her shoulders and watched as Robinson and Fletcher, always the two on her team most likely to walk forward and put themselves in danger walked up to the front door and hammered loudly. Beth wasn't expecting an easy answer, but the hail of bullets that greeted them was unexpected. Thankfully, Fletcher and Robinson were experienced and both managed to move out the way quickly. Then all went deathly silent, giving her two agents time to get back to the safety of the FBI trucks. "And now we have a standoff." She commented and frowned, shaking her head. It was all to play for now, and she was a squad captain. That was just great.


	4. Chapter 4

**This chapter really starts things going! I wrote this before the start of the season (actually back in July) and this is still technically set marginally before "Sic Semper Tyrannis".  
Shin xx **

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Brody had decided that, after speaking to James in the bullpen, she'd feel better if she was away from everyone for just a little while. She loved her colleagues, but they weren't always the best to be around when you were worried. She had to be on her toes sometimes for the teasing and hazing that went on, and she was just too worried to deal with LaSalle today. But it seemed like her desire to not be bothered by LaSalle was doomed to failure. "Hey, you been watching the news?"

"No, I've been scanning these old files in." All she could think was that it was a strange request wherever she was. She didn't normally watch the news while she was at work. It was often on in the background, as they all liked to be up on the current affairs of the day, but when she was back here she normally just sang to herself.

"Come through, you need to see this." LaSalle actually reached out and pulled her arm gently. Not enough to hurt, or even move her, but enough to show that he really meant this.

"LaSalle, I have too much work to do." She shook her head and motioned to the files and boxes scattered around her. They didn't often get downtime in which they could work on this backlog of files and folders that needed to be digitised. It wasn't an easy job either, so she generally needed to concentrate.

"Give some of it to Percy, she is the newbie." Of course that would be his suggestion. Pass the work on, and let someone else worry about it. The truth was this was mind numbingly boring work, so she hated to pass it along to their newest member.

"I'm not always as mean with my hazing as you are." She decided that turning it all back on him was a better idea, and possibly slightly funnier than her original response that if someone had to die of boredom she'd rather it be her.

"You're vicious with your hazing." LaSalle replied, and she remembered the drinking competition a week earlier, that had largely been hazing, and had ended in James having to take them home, and leaving Percy asleep on the sofa. It had been a good night though. "Will you just do as I tell you and watch the damn news." Something was clearly going on, but she didn't know what, and that bothered her. She didn't want to show that though.

"Why?" She said, but gave up and just started to stand up slowly. It seemed like the only way to properly get answers right now was going to be letting him take her to watch the news. If that was all she could do, then it was all she could do.

"I remember you telling me and King what James' assignment is." Clearly he had a better memory than she did, as she didn't recall telling them. She probably had at some point. They'd both been very interested in James since the first time they saw him almost six months earlier.

"Yeah, to do research and report on a cult out in Texas." She just repeated, so that she could be sure she'd told them the right thing. He was mostly there for taking pictures, but she knew he'd also be writing the story, though he'd do it through pictures as much as he could. He was never gifted with words.

"So why do you think I want you to check the news?" LaSalle seemed to think that the fact he knew James assignment meant she could work out exactly why he wanted her to see whatever it was the news was saying. "Come on Brody."

She shook her head and shrugged even as they walked toward the bullpen. She was sure she was going to know quickly what was going on. The fact that this seemed to be so urgent told her that it was important, whatever it was. "I still have no idea."

"Do you know where this cult was?" He asked and sat at his desk, then grabbed the remote for the plasma. She was still wondering where this was going, but slowly she was developing an idea, and she really didn't like it.

"Somewhere near the Louisiana border." She commented, she hadn't know the exact location, and she didn't think she'd ever learnt exactly where, or James hadn't wanted to share. That was quite common in their relationship. They kept things from each other because they needed to, and it was only ever professional. "That's the most I know about it really."

"It got raided by the FBI." Percy said simply, nodding at the screen. She didn't even need to look at Pride to know that he was watching her reaction. Even though she was looking at the screen, and recognised the weird paint pattern on the roof of her car she still couldn't really believe what she was being faced with.

"You're joking?" She eventually managed to splutter out. She knew they had been jokingly following her car through Louisiana before she'd called him hours earlier. So this was a total surprise to her that anything had happened.

"There were shots fired, we only knew it was where James went as he's apparently been calling in updates to the BBC that are getting played everywhere." Pride was the one who spoke this time, looking concerned. That sounded like James. He would want to inform the public as much as he possibly could, whether that was sensible or not. "That's who he's working for right now, yeah?" Pride eventually asked, and she had no idea where he pulled that from.

"I think so." She nodded, but then she remembered that she'd complained about him not working for the BBC before he left. He was working for a well known paper right now, but she'd still been worried. "Wait, no, but he has worked for them before." She hoped he'd work for them again, at least they had good security, where possible.

"Lathom is his surname, right?" Another piece of trivia that Brody had no idea how her colleagues had. She got the feeling, right now, that they had run a background check on James when she'd let him back into her life. They wanted to protect her, she knew that much. So it wasn't worth asking.

"Yeah." She just said quietly and looked to the screen as the BBC channel they were watching pulled a picture up alongside the report. She recognised the picture as being James' old BBC id. Clearly, most of the other pictures they had of him were too drunk to be posted.

"Then Pride was right, it's him." LaSalle said, but she was no longer really paying attention to anyone in this room. Her attention was 200 miles away.

"Is he OK?" She asked, just staring at the screen. Now that she knew for a fact, and was accepting, that James was in the building, she was terrified about what might happen to him.

Pride nodded, coming over and putting a soft hand on her shoulder in support. It worked in making her feel a little more grounded, but she was still terrified. They had just started toward a new life together, and of course something had to crop up. "Seems to be so far, he's been reporting to the BBC."

"I need to get out there." That was her first and only thought. She needed to be on-scene. She needed to be somewhere where she could help if needed. She wouldn't really forgive herself if something happened to someone else she cared about and she was miles away. She'd already let Emily down that way, she wasn't letting James down too.

"Brody." She knew that tone of voice, she knew that he was going to try and talk her out of this. It wasn't going to work, and she would be able to explain things, and be able to help. She wasn't going to speak to what press there was there, because she didn't want to ruin James cover for her.

"There is a car registered to an NCIS agent there, someone needs to explain that." That wasn't the best argument as it could be solved with a call to the FBI team leader on the scene. As it was she knew that telling him the personal reason would actually help. "On top of that, I need to go and make sure James makes it through this."

"You're a federal agent." LaSalle argued, clearly siding with their boss. She was a little surprised at the given what had gone on three months ago, but maybe she shouldn't have been surprised. He didn't want to lose anyone else important, but she didn't want to lose James.

"I'll go as a civilian, as someone who's partner is in the compound." She turned to their boss and was willing to plead to be allowed to go. She would beg for the clearance, but she wouldn't go without it. "Please Pride. I'm trying... We're trying to start a life together."

"Fine." He said after what seemed like an eternity of thinking about it. She felt her heart settling back into her chest a little now she knew she could go. Clearly he predicted her next question, luckily she'd thought about that. Pride didn't lend his car, while LaSalle's screamed 'fed' from a mile away. So she knew what to do. "You can't take an NCIS car."

"Percy, can I borrow your car?" She asked, knowing that this would work for now. All she needed to do was get to the part of Texas where this cult was. Then she could make her mind up about exactly what she could do to help.

"Sure, it's a piece of shit though." Apparently it was necessary that Percy warn her about that. It seemed so out of place that Brody couldn't help but laugh a little at the way it was said. Shit didn't matter if it just wasn't going to break down.

"That doesn't bother me if it runs." She smiled and took the keys from Percy, mouthing a small 'thank you' as she looked at her. It was nice to know that Percy had fit in so well that she would lend her car with only a second warning.

"Alright I won't stop you." Pride's whole demeanour told her that if he thought there was any other way they could do this they would, but he was letting her go, that was enough. "Call if there is anything we can do."

"Thanks." She looked at the keys she'd took off Percy, knowing that that car wouldn't be flagged yet. She just needed to be on site. She wanted to know what was happening as it happened. Of course that was James' luck, the place he was reporting from was raided by federal agents, and he was already having to hide the fact that she was a federal agent herself. Somehow, she felt this was her fault, and she needed to help.


	5. Chapter 5

**And here we go. Let's get going on this ish.  
Shin xx**

* * *

The FBI warrant had been delivered two hours earlier, or at the very least, they had tried to deliver it. In that time James had spoken to the BBC news twice, and as dawn began halfway around the world back home, it was still the dead of night in Texas. The BBC had scheduled another call in half an hour, about 15 minute into the morning shows on BBC One. He'd never been great on TV, but he was all there was here, and he felt happier reporting to the BBC than to an American network. He was pacing around the room he'd been given hours earlier, not sure it was safe to venture out again, when the door slammed open. "Did you know about this?" Was asked before James even fully realised that Ben Baxter had arrived with one of his younger henchmen.

"Do you really think I'd have come if I knew there was going to be a raid?" James asked, wondering how stupid they thought journalists were. James was even certain that Merri couldn't have known about this one. There was no chance that she would let him go somewhere where he'd be in danger. Especially not after what had happened to LaSalle's girlfriend. She'd become a little paranoid the last few months.

"We should make him talk to them." The henchman said, James just stared at him for a moment trying desperately to think of his name. It took a few seconds longer than James would have liked to recall it. Grimes, Ted Grimes, also called Grimy. The nickname was apt, he looked like he hadn't showered in a few days.

"No, that wouldn't work." Ben Baxter was more savvy than James had originally given him credit for. Maybe that wasn't totally unsurprising, given that he'd had the intelligence and charisma to start up this place. Whatever anyone could say about cult leaders, the last thing they were was stupid, his research had shown him that. "They wouldn't listen as he's not to do with us."

"He's been telling the media what's been going on." Grimy shouted, gesturing wildly. James wasn't sure if he was being emphatic, or if he was a little panicked. Sometimes it was hard to tell the difference. The truth was though, that he had been telling the media, because nobody had told him that he couldn't.

"I'm a reporter, it's what I do." Baxter may understand, but Grimy didn't seem to understand how being a journalist worked. It didn't matter that he was telling, what it mattered was what he told. He could at least say that he had been completely truthful up until now. "Have I been unfair?"

"No, you haven't. That's what worries me most." Baxter was certainly more than James had originally thought. Right now he was suspicious, defensive and cornered. This made all of the current situation so much more difficult, and dangerous. Not just for the FBI agents and the male cult members, but for everyone.

"Why?" He wondered what was worrying Baxter, because James was almost certain that it wasn't at all what was worrying him. If it was there was more confusion here than anywhere ever before.

"Because I don't know if you're stupid, honest, or if you have an agenda." Alright, that was valid, and if Baxter asked Merri, he'd be told that it was mostly the first one. As it was, he was going to stand by it being a combination of the latter two. "For all I know, it could be all three." There was a possibility that Baxter was right.

"Look, for better or worse, the public deserve to know both sides of this situation." He knew that American networks would have the FBI's side playing continually until this all resolved. Maybe the fact that it was a British network was causing problems, James didn't know, but he did know that this was going to be the only way there was any public support.

Baxter inclined his head as if accepting James' point. He was certain that acceptance was not something that was actually going to come, but clearly he was attempting to be honest, or accommodating. "Maybe."

"He's gotta have something to do with this Ben." Grimy, clearly, wasn't buying that James was innocent. He could live with that seeing as it seemed plain, right now, that none of them had figured out that his girlfriend was a fed. He hoped they didn't discover that. "He comes here, then suddenly the FBI come."

"Maybe." Baxter said again, and James took the opportunity to pick his camera up and snap off a couple of shots. He didn't even need to look right now to know that he'd got exactly what he'd expected to get in them. It was a talent he'd developed while he was in Afghanistan, and it served him well now in New York. "Are you taking pictures?"

"I am a photojournalist." He answered, with maybe a little more sarcasm than he should have put in to something that was life or death. He didn't normally answer stupid questions with sarcasm, but that one had been ripe for it, and he just couldn't help it.

"I'm not sure I agree to you taking photos right now." Baxter commented, and for the first time his finely-honed idea of what he was doing seemed a little shaky. James could manipulate that. It was something he'd learnt to do in university, and it had been all too long since he'd needed to use that. He was certain that if he put his mind to it he could push more, but he didn't want to.

"You want people to know what happens here, right?" He asked, thinking that would be all he really needed to say, because self-preservation was something that people like this were oh so very good at.

"Yes." Baxter grumbled a few seconds later, after clearly thinking about that for long enough that he was satisfied that James wasn't trying to pull anything fast and loose in suggesting that. It was just the truth, he could get their story told in ways they wouldn't have thought.

"Then let me do my job." He gave it the final push. Trying to make it seem like James was going to tell their story as Baxter wanted him to. What he did with these pictures once they got out was going to be another matter entirely, and he would tell the truth, whichever way that went.

"Say nothing in front of him." That was the last instruction it seemed like Baxter was going to give. He turned away and had started stalking out of James' room before it seemed like Grimy had decided on another question to ask.

"He is free to move around the building?" Grimy asked, clearly concerned. As to what he was concerned about, James didn't honestly know, but he was concerned.

"For now he is. That may change." That was enough. James could still get plenty for a story. Not the story he was originally sent here to cover, but a story nonetheless. The possibility of pissing off his current boss didn't even really bother James that much. He hated his editor anyway.

"Should I tell the others?" Grimy asked, clearly wanting to do something, and simultaneously thinking that Baxter was nuts for still trusting him. But at least he was still free, despite the suspicions of Ted Grimes.

"Yes." Baxter nodded, clearly not trusting James with the plans for their last stand, or whatever they were calling this. He'd not seen many sieges that went this way ending well. Though maybe this one would, in time. They didn't seem to be as dangerous as they could have been.

James wandered around seemingly completely independently, but he noticed that whenever he walked into a room everyone went silent, he went upstairs to one of the windows and looked out over the front of the building. He could see the boundary and the flashing lights just beyond it. He was stood there calmly when he heard the voice of a young woman come up beside him. "You're the journalist, right?"

"I am." He answered honestly, it wasn't worth lying considering what was going on and who he was. They all knew anyway, and he wasn't sure exactly what this young woman wanted. The fact she was alone told him that, maybe, she had information that she knew only he could get out.

"You should try and leave." She warned, and he knew that she was trying to be helpful, but no matter how dire the situation was right now, he had been in far worse situations over the course of his career, and he would still probably be in worse situations. "Ben won't let you stay for long."

"I don't know what he could do?" He left it as a question rather than a comment or an accusation, it was definitely easier to not push too much when you were dealing with the devout followers of any type of religion or movement.

"I do. Be wary." She said then pressed something into his grip in the dark. He didn't dare show that anything had even been handed to him, not given the covert way that she had gone too to get it to him to begin with. It was worth playing along with her spy moment, just to maybe make it a little safer for them both.

"Thank you." He looked at what he'd had slipped to him, and wondered what the hell he was looking at. Scarpering back to his room he looked under the diary under the light. It seemed like a list of things that Baxter had been accused of, and whether or not that was what the FBI were there for, it wouldn't matter. James had to make a decision he hated making. Did he hide the truth for his own safety, or did he out what he was now sure of and risk himself. He'd always risked himself, so on his next check in, he was going to say what he knew. It was the right thing to do. He was just going to pray that he'd get to see Meredith at least one more time, so she could tell him that too.


	6. Chapter 6

**Back to Beth, and a little more info about what's going on.  
Shin xx**

* * *

She wasn't loving this at all. In fact, Bethan Callahan could happily say she was hating this. Cults and the like were not what she was good at, though they had similarities to terrorist organisations, there were a lot of crucial differences. The biggest one being that a terrorist was trying to create a sensationalised panic, a cult, generally, was not. "Where we at?" She snapped her fingers, needing a time check.

"Four hours, nineteen minutes." Hernandez called from the corner of the tent where they'd set up their equipment. That told her how long it had been since they had attempted to deliver the warrant, she knew it was about three hours later that their source from inside the building had stopped reporting through to the media.

"Five hours is the cut off." It seemed arbitrary, but that was as long as she'd want to go without an update. It would have been 2 hours since the last report in the media, and she just wasn't comfortable past that. "At that point we need to get some intel from in there." She would be willing to send an agent in, or just about anything. They just needed to know.

"It's been a while since the journalist reported." Fletcher commented, reminding Beth that along with the other innocents who would be involved, there was a professional who could report on every single thing they did. But it had seemed that there was some pretty solid evidence in there that something had happened. "Not since he spoke about the papers he'd received." Fletcher was clearly thinking along the same lines as her boss.

"Hopefully he still has them, they'll help our prosecution." She really hoped that he'd thought to hide them before he reported on them. She'd even happily make a deal with him about them. As she thought about it, the more annoyed she got that she was the one leading this. "I hate these cases. I'm an anti-terrorist." She grumbled to nobody in particular. She didn't know even if anyone was listening anymore. "Did anyone get the name of the journalist?"

"Lathom." Of course it was Robinson. Robinson who, despite being a good agent, was an absolute pain in Beth's ass, and she regularly wanted to beat him. She waited, knowing there would be another comment, and true to form, A.G. delivered. "He's one of your people isn't he?"

"My people?" She asked, not at all sure what the hell he meant by that. There were so many things she could think of, but surely he was not stupid enough to be implying any of them. Actually, knowing him, he was exactly that stupid.

"A Brit." He replied after a few seconds, and she had to stare at him a few seconds before it sunk in exactly what he'd said and why he'd said it. Even when she realised she needed a few seconds to formulate a response, and it still wasn't the best.

"Get out of here Robinson before I beat you with my shoe." Her shoe, why would she beat him with her shoe? At least it wouldn't end with her being arrested by her own team if she did that, they'd be too busy laughing. "Someone find out when the experts will be here." She shouted loudly as she walked out of the tent, just wanting someone to pass over to.

There weren't that many past their boundary yet. More would come when dawn broke, she was certain of that. "Agent Callahan." Beth turned, vaguely recognising the voice and then seeing Meredith Brody clearly standing in front of an agent who was holding the line. Mostly it was news services right now, all worried about one of their own being inside.

"Let her through." She nodded and waved Brody over, forgetting for a moment how tall Brody was in comparison to her. Mostly though, she wondered why the hell an NCIS agent was on her scene. This place had no connection to the navy and no connection to any agency other than the FBI. "Agent Brody, what are you doing here, this isn't an NCIS case."

"You know there is a journalist in there, don't you?" Brody asked, and Beth nodded, wondering where on Earth this was going. There was clearly something else going on here.

"Yeah." She ended up saying a minute later when Brody still hadn't spoken. There was definitely something going on, and Beth wasn't entirely sure what it was, or whether it was going to change her decision.

"It's James." Brody muttered eventually, and the look on her face told Beth that was something important. She stood there thinking about any of the people she could remember from Brody's life called James. She knew there were people in her life who she'd never met, then there was her sister. But she didn't remember a James. Then it hit her.

"Wait, your James?" There was a clarification that was needed beyond it being James, and given the situation between them the last time that they had spoken about him Beth was surprised Brody was even in the same state, let alone seeming to come to check on him.

"Yeah, my James." She held out her phone, and Beth was not surprised to see a picture of Brody and the journalist who's photo she'd become very familiar with over the last several hours. They were laughing in the photo, but Brody certainly wasn't laughing now. All Beth could remember was that they had broken up. She didn't remember the details.

"I thought you broke up?" The last time they'd spoken a reconciliation was never on the cards, no matter how hard James had been pushing for it. Brody had still been too angry, and James hadn't changed enough. That was going to be an interesting explanation, when they had time.

"We got back together, three months ago." Them getting back together had become rather obvious, and that was quite recently, but unsurprisingly Brody was all in. So right now Beth just had to try and think.

"I still can't have you here MB." Beth was genuinely sorry to say those words, because she didn't really want to turn her friend away when she was in need, when she was worried, but she didn't know what else to do. There was no official request.

"I can help, Beth, even if it's just running the coffee machine." There was a hint of desperation in her voice, and Beth was certain that Brody would stay stood the other side of the boundary no matter what, but it wasn't entirely up to her.

She looked around trying to think of something she could get Brody to do, but while she was a good agent, there wasn't a massive need for an interrogator in this situation. Mosty there was a need for a light touch, and detached people. "There isn't much to do."

"Look I just need to be here." That was a fair point, and one that Beth could understand, but that wasn't enough to keep her right there. There were other considerations, like what would she say if someone else was aware that Brody wasn't FBI, like almost everyone there. Maybe it wouldn't matter after all. "Imagine if it was Geraint." OK, that was a low blow, but a successful one.

"Dammit. Alright, team up with Archer and Hernandez and... whatever I assigned them to do." She wasn't going to try and guess now. All she knew was those two were happily working in a corner, and generally needed supervision. Not that they were bad at their jobs, they just distracted each other, a lot. Generally though, it helped when Beth remembered what she'd assigned them to do. "I don't even remember anymore."

"That's a good sign." Was the sarcastic response, and Beth had to bite her tongue for a moment. This was a very high stress environment, and she didn't need another possible murder charge on her record, but if she snapped she could take out Brody and Robinson at the same time, then there would only need to be one trial.

"Don't start MB, I can still have you sent back to New Orleans." OK, she probably couldn't because Brody had arrived on her own and wasn't entirely there for professional reasons, but it was a good threat, and she liked to use it.

Brody, it seemed, could tell that she was pretty close to her breaking point, and that soon enough things were going to fall through the cracks. At least, that was how Beth was choosing to interpret the next offer, otherwise that murder charge was coming ever nearer. She could almost taste the indictment. "You know, I'm still good at organising things."

"I bet you are. Fine." She gave in, though she would have to make sure that someone was keeping an eye on Archer and Hernandez. It was going to be easier for her if she let someone else take on some of the organisational burden. "Start working your magic, but your ass is mine if you fuck up though."

"Thanks for the vote of confidence." Brody continued with the sarcasm, and it just was going to be easier if Beth pretended that Brody was a sarcastic puppy who could talk for the next few hours, otherwise surviving this was going to become slim for all of them.

"I bet I've dealt with more of these than you, arsehole." However much shit Beth was going to get into for allowing an NCIS agent to help them. Beth remembered how broken up Brody had been about James when they met, and they'd bonded over the fact that not everyone had relationships like Beth had with her husband. She made a mental list to call him as soon as she had a moment. Brody had a reason to want this to end well, and It wasn't going to kill Beth to help her out.


	7. Chapter 7

**So, I decided to give Beth's team a little more fleshing out in this fic. So we learn a bit more about all of them.  
Shin xx**

* * *

Worry was all Meredith Brody was doing right now, worrying and fretting and generally panicking about what could be going on in the building not far from them. She worried about everyone in there, of course, but mostly she was worrying about James. She knew that danger came with his job almost as surely as it did with hers, but she somehow still hated when he was the one in danger.

James would be laughing at her if he knew how worried she was right now. She loved him, and it had been a long time since he'd been in danger while they'd been together. She'd worried about him when they hadn't been together, but she hadn't managed to do anything then. Here, she was able to help them arrange to get him out.

"How you holding up?" Came a voice from beside her, putting down a very strong mug of coffee. She looked up to see one of the men from Beth's team pulling out the chair beside her and looking a little concerned. It surprised her how nice everyone was being, given that she technically didn't belong.

"I'm worried." She decided a neutral answer would probably be best, even though it was clear he knew what she was worried about, she just didn't want to give it away too much if he didn't know for sure, but given the sympathy and the coffee, he probably knew. "How did you know?"

"I heard you talking to Beth. My girlfriend, Ruby, gets like this whenever we're on a case." That was an interesting bit of trivia to learn. She had never pictured Robinson with a girlfriend. "Archer and Hernandez are always on cases together, and I don't think Fletcher's had a date in years, so they don't really get it." She smiled at the kind words then looked up at him for a minute then across the tent.

"Archer and Hernandez, really?" She hadn't really gotten that vibe from them, but she also didn't know them and hadn't worked with them. At least they'd always know where the other was and what they were doing. That had to either be really relieving or really annoying, and she wasn't going to place bets on which.

"They deny it but we all know. Don't ask, don't tell is definitely their situation." That also didn't much surprise her. She knew a lot of agents who got into a relationship keep the same rule. In worked to a point as well. She was about to say something else when Robinson spoke again. "Guess you're not so used to it, him being a journalist."

"I'm not so sure, he's been in some pretty tough spots." She knew that he had been in a lot of places, but she hadn't really been involved in most of them. This was the first time James had been in a rough spot since they'd gotten back together. Really, she just hated that any of them had to live through this. "We just haven't been back together long."

"I got that from conversation with Beth too." He smiled, handing her the next page of the file she'd been trying to read. That was enough for her to remember that she was suppose to be working to. "He'll be fine, Agent Brody." He reached over and squeezed her shoulder, and Brody ended up nodding without really thinking.

"Thanks Agent Robinson." She was genuinely thankful that he'd come over to try and just reassure her that there could be a good ending to this. She really hoped that he was right, and that James would be perfectly alright when he got out. It had just been so long since anyone had heard from him that she was afraid.

She smiled a little as Beth came over, causing Robinson to disappear. Somehow, given that Robinson had been eavesdropping on them a little while ago, it probably wasn't surprising. Beth, unlike her agents, was straight to the point and had clearly decided she didn't need to be tiptoed around. "You got a number for him?"

"James?" It was a stupid question, but she oddly needed to ask it anyway. Who else would anyone need a number for right now. Looking up at Beth as she nodded. "Yeah. Why?" She would have thought that there was no real need for James' number if they wanted to talk to the people in the building she could see a phone line.

"We're gonna call him." Beth said, and she narrowed her eyes a little at that. She'd figured that much out, but that was another reason for her to wonder what they were doing. Was this a way to find out if James was alive? She didn't really know because she had never really worked these cases. Gangs were home, cults not so much. She'd tried James a half dozen times

"I've tried, it goes straight to voicemail." She scribbled down the number of James' cell so they could use that. It was something at the very least. They probably could have gotten the number pretty easily, but it was even easier for her to just write it down and give it to them straight up.

"Let us try." Beth motioned around the tent, and Brody looked around, reminding herself that everyone in this area was hoping that everyone got out of the building alive and healthy. There was no reason she needed to keep trying to do it alone.

"I hope you get through." She mumbled quietly. Maybe James wasn't answering her calls because there was some reason that he wanted to try and protect her, and then he would answer a call that wasn't from her. But that would still require the phone still ringing. It hadn't even been doing that.

"Me too." Beth smiled softly and rubbed the top of Brody's arm gently. She'd always been great at comfort. That was part of how they'd ended up getting close to each other on their original case, and now it was coming in handy for them too. "We have a number for the building anyway, but it would be nice to hear that James was OK." That was an understatement. All she wanted right now was to hear that he was at the least alive. She had no reason to think otherwise, but the worst case was jumping out to her.

Brody suddenly thought about the other number she still had in her phone contacts, she always had for some reason. She'd never deleted it, and it had never really crossed her mind to even try, maybe that could be used. If he still maintained it. "I have another number for James, but he hasn't used it in years. It was his emergency phone."

"Save that, we might use it later." That was likely wise, especially given that Brody still wasn't entirely sure that James used that number, or if he maintained it if it was still registered to him. "Just give me the one he's been using recently."

"Alright." She nodded, double checking the number she'd hastily scribbled. It would not help at all if she was messing up by giving them the wrong number because she was shaking or worried and not thinking clearly.

"I know you're worried, MB, I don't blame you, but we need to focus on everyone else in there too." Beth rubbed her arm softly and Brody just nodded, looking down. She didn't really need reminding of that, but at the same time the reminder hadn't hurt at all. She hadn't necessarily needed it, but there were so many people in this situation, not just James.

"You're right, I know you are." She sighed and put her head on the table for a moment and focused on Beth's hand still on her arm. It was something that was briefly grounding her and bringing her to this point. She hadn't been able to stop flashes of how she felt after losing Emily coming to her, and she needed to step back from that.

"We'll make sure that releasing James is part of our negotiations." Beth was scribbling on her paper, and Brody wasn't sure she wanted to know what else was going to be in the negotiations. She was sure they were less negotiations and more demands. Providing that eventually everyone was out, Brody could support that.

"Thanks Beth." She said quietly, just wanting to show that she truly appreciated what was going on here, because there was so much that could go wrong still. Beth had let her when she didn't need to, and was keeping her involved in the case. That was probably good for both of them.

"No need. It sounds like I'm being insincere when I say it, but right now it literally is just my job." Brody understood that, she'd often said similar to the family of the victims whose cases she worked. She always meant that she would do it no matter what was going on, and she knew that Beth was saying that she'd be working this hard if there was no connection to one of the people in there.

"I still appreciate it." And she really did. It didn't matter if Beth would have done it anyway, the fact was that she was doing all she could to make sure that James made it out alive. That was the important thing for him right now, and by extension, that was the important thing for her. Beth was helping with that, so she was thankful.


	8. Chapter 8

**Sorry for delays in posting this, and probably any posting delays coming up between now and New Year. Those who follow my facebook and twitter and tumblr will already know, but for anyone else - my sister passed away from complications of her cancer treatment less than 48 hours ago, and while I'm dealing alright, I'm not really in the total headspace yet. But I'm going to try updating this one while I think of a few more stories. Thanks.  
Shin xx**

* * *

James hadn't been able to get out of his room since his last check in, and he doubted they were going to let him out at all. Since he'd given away their secret, they had been so unlikely to speak to him at all. He was stood trying to open the door when it opened on the outside, and one of the younger lads came in. "I haven't been allowed to leave." He said, hoping that someone would let him out if he was polite and gentle.

"It's for your own safety." The boy tried, but it was obvious that he didn't believe that for an instance. He was probably just parroting the things he'd been told. Things he needed to believe and listen too to survive in a place like this. James couldn't really imagine living here all the time.

"My safety? It's not me the FBI are here for." He couldn't resist the jab, but he really should have. It wasn't this kid's fault that he had been raised in this kind of terribly toxic environment. He could only believe what he'd been told was right, and James shouldn't really judge him on that.

"There are people here who aren't happy with you." That was both the exact answer James had expected, and the last answer he'd expected. It was slightly refreshing that someone doing what he'd thought could throw him off. He was going to need to approach this a different way.

"Why doesn't the boss come in and talk to me himself?" It was a rhetorical question, but he was asking it anyway. The reaction would tell him a lot more about the state of affairs than any pointed question he could ask. Sometimes, he'd learnt that being blunt and direct got the fastest answers in any situation.

"Because I came." That was said as if it was enough, or as though it was the only thing that would matter. Baxter would be here, James was sure of that. This wasn't who had truly been sent to talk to him, unless he'd been sent to soften him up. Baxter wasn't the type to let juniors do his dirty work for too long. Baiting him, though, might bring him here even faster.

"If he wants to know anything from me, he'll need to come himself." That was the closest to an oblique taunt he could manage on such short notice. He needed to restock his arsenal when he got chance. Merri was always good for that. Having an interrogator as a life-partner certainly helped him pick things like that up.

"He didn't send me, I came. Nobody here is happy, we need help to get out and change things. He only has a handful of followers now." The boy looked terrified as he looked furtively over his shoulder toward the door. "He'll be here in a minute, he's angry." That was no doubt actually an understatement, but he could live with that.

"Probably not the first person I've had pissed off at me today." He muttered, in fact he was certain that Merri had been the first, several hours ago. She was probably still pissed off at him, or pissed off at him again. He no longer really cared. At least if she was pissed off it meant she cared about him

"I can't help you." The boy said, and he melted into the corner of the room, probably because he'd been sent in to make sure that James wasn't going to do anything to harm the leader. But if what this boy was saying was true, it didn't seem like Baxter would have much back-up.

A second later, banging preceded Baxter storming into the room, and somehow managing to take James completely by surprise and pin him up against the wall. He hadn't quite been prepared for such a physical showdown, but he should have been. "Are you working for the feds?" Baxter shouted after less than a second, and James needed to collect himself, and fast. Otherwise this would be worse than before.

"What? No." He tried to sound incredulous, he wasn't sure he pulled it off, but he tried. If they'd found out about Merri, there was a possibility that most of this was over for him. No chance he'd be allowed to stay and spy once they knew his girlfriend was a federal agent, even if she wasn't FBI.

"Who are you working for?" The question was asked as the first fist collided with his stomach. James had never been a fan of being punched, it was why he'd always avoided barfights, like that barman in the Star Trek episode with the bar fight, he was the one saving the alcohol.

"I work for CNN, you know that." He decided to answer with the truth. At least, all truth he was in the position to give. He worked for many companies, this assignment was with CNN. So for now, he was working with CNN.

"Prove it." Baxter spat out, but James had no idea how to do that. They had seen his ID, spoken to his editor. There was no other way to prove he was who he said he was.

"I don't know how to prove it past what you've already seen." He admitted. There was nothing more he could do.

"Why did you give that information away?" Grimy asked as he landed another blow, this one in his chest, knocking all the air out of him for a second.

"Because the public had a right to know." That was his only answer, and as a journalist that was the only thing he cared about. He wanted to report what people had the right to know.

"Who gave it to you?" Baxter asked with a snarl as Grimy landed another punch to the side of James' head.

"My sources are confidential." He refused to give up the woman who'd given him the information. It was law that journalists had to protect the identities of their sources, and he knew some had gone to prison. But that was no reason for him not to.

That was when Baxter got up close again, and spoke slightly menacingly. "We know about your girlfriend." That was when James mind went blank. He'd known it was a possibility they would find out about Meredith, but he'd hoped they wouldn't, and now as he'd thought earlier, he was done for.

"Excuse me?" He said, and a moment later a picture was dangled in front of his face, it was clearly off the internet, and it was he and Meredith talking at a crime scene, they weren't doing anything unprofessional, but even in the picture it was obvious to see they were a couple.

"This bitch, your girlfriend right?" He waved the photo again, and while James wanted to say no, he knew it was pointless, and he hated denying his relationship with Meredith, especially now.

"She's a fed." Baxter said, as another fist landed in his stomach, causing James to fall to the floor. That was the blow that finally pushed him down and stopped him moving. When he was on the floor two kicks landed on his side, enough to wind him for a moment, and make him forget exactly why he was here.

"Kicking me won't get you any information you haven't already gotten." He replied when he got air back into his lungs, but he knew that sarcasm probably wasn't the answer. He just couldn't help it, his automatic reaction to any stressful situation was sarcasm.

"Do you think this is all we'll do?" Baxter asked, leaning down and talking almost directly into James ear. He was trying to sound threatening, but given all the places James had been to report, it wasn't at all worrying.

"Probably not, but I've reported in Syria, Libya and North Korea, and you guys aren't quite in their league, are you?" That was the wrong thing to say, he was sure of that, but he couldn't help it. He hated that he'd let himself be pushed into retaliating that way, and he made a mental note not to let it get that far again.

"Leave him." Baxter said after a few more kicks hit him in the side. He was winded and curled up at first, but he couldn't move, or really protect anything. He was glad to hear that he was to be left alone, at least for a short while.

"Ben!" Grimy shouted, frowning a little. Clearly he'd thought that there wouldn't be any problems with beating James senseless this time, but Baxter was clever, cleverer than James had originally given him credit for.

"No. We will just leave him in here, where he can't speak to any of the others." Baxter headed to the door, and the two juniors followed. At least one of them was helping, and from the sounds of it, he wasn't the only one. It seemed the people here were fed up of Baxter, and wanted to end him. "If it were up to me, I'd kill you. But right now we will probably need to prove to your girlfriend that you are alive."

"She accepted a long time ago that she might lose me on an assignment like this." He said to their backs, and he suddenly started hating Ben Baxter more than he had been before. This situation could have only ever happened to him. Of course they had figured out who Meredith was, and that would mean that he had problems. As soon as the door was shut and he was alone he looked at himself and shook his head. "What have you gotten yourself into Lathom, you silly arsehole."

At least they had left him in the room with all of his belongings. That was going to make all of this a lot easier. He was going to be able to find a way to talk to the FBI, and preferably Meredith too. He missed her, even though it had been less than 24 hours since he'd seen her. He'd gotten used to having her there, and he really wished that she was where she could talk to him.


	9. Chapter 9

**Ooops, you may get two notifications for this chapter, as I accidentally uploaded the wrong one. BUT this is now the right one.  
Shin xx**

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Beth had called her agents in for a meeting, and Brody had ended up included purely because she hadn't moved, and Beth didn't really want to try and force her out of the room. She may have insights into this that she didn't have. Brody had possibly worked more cases like this than Beth had. She had only done a handful while with the BAU, but she knew that now she needed to get some sort of trade. "We need to get this arranged."

"What?" Fletcher said, and clearly she wasn't quite following what this meeting was about. She was the youngest of her team, only in her early twenties, and she had always focused on terrorism. This was totally new to her. She'd only been on the team a couple of months.

"Some sort of trade." Beth said, wanting to make it obvious that there were plenty of things that she was thinking about. She had been talking already about entry plans. If she could get as many out before it got to that point, more the better for everyone,

"Who do we want out?" Hernandez was the first to ask, clearly already thinking along the lines Beth would have wanted. She was thinking about saying, but she was going to see if her team came up with the correct answer before she said anything.

"Kids, women. Try and get the Journo out too." Archer was the one to start that, and of course he was the one who knew that anything that they started right now would have to include James too. Not just because of Brody, but because he was counted as a bystander in situations like this, and him being a journalist was definitely putting them all on edge.

"Do we have to?" Came a complaint, and nobody needed to look at her to sense the look the up-until-then silent Brody was giving her. It didn't matter his profession. James was an innocent, and he didn't deserve to be in danger like this.

"Fletcher, stop it." Robinson snapped at her, and Beth was a little interested in what had gone on between the recently, as they were more snappy than usual at each other. She was certain that it was something, but she didn't really want to ask. Fletcher at least seemed a little sorry.

"Sorry Agent Brody, I forgot." She sounded sorry, and that was something important to Beth. At least it mean that something in her still had a conscience. Beth made a mental note to speak to Fletcher, and to tell Brody that she would talk to her. Because even without a loved one being there, that was a damned insensitive thing to say.

"Get out of here. Fletcher, we'll be talking later." She ordered, and was glad that Fletcher left with Archer and Hernandez. Robinson went back to whatever he'd been doing before, but Beth wasn't certain what it was. It didn't really matter if Robinson heard her talk to Brody. "I'll talk to her about that when this is all over."

"What are you going to bargain?" Brody asked, rather than addressing what had just happened with Fletcher. While Beth was surprised, she was also a little happy that she didn't need to say anything more.

"Immunity for lower members, lesser charges. Anything they'd like." She would only offer what she could be sure of. She wasn't actually all that sure of anything when it came to this situation. "But only if they allow James and anyone who wants to leave go."

"You think it'll work?" Brody was clearly exhausted, and struggling to hold everything together. Maybe that was why she felt like she needed to ask these questions, and why she felt she wasn't doing enough. Beth recognised the signs.

She had to be completely honest with Brody, she didn't really have a clue what she was doing. She was learning a lot through this case, but she was still far from an expert, and she wasn't really sure that she had any actual idea of what was happening. "I hope so. I'm a terrorism expert, I'm guessing a little here Merri."

"Beth, what do you think the chances of James making it out alive are?" There was a small sound of defeat in Brody's voice there, and Beth had to resist the urge to walk around the table and wrap her arms around Brody and tell her everything was going to be alright.

"High. He'll be fine, and you'll see him again soon." She smiled and knew that that was true. Within a few hours Brody would be reunited with James. That was the truth of the matter really. "Why don't you take a break?" She was a little concerned about the fallout from NCIS if Beth allowed one of their agents to collapse from exhaustion.

"Whenever I close my eyes I see him they way he was after he was shot in Libya a few years ago." Brody spoke quietly, but Beth still made out the words, and she understood the pain that came along with things like that, she remembered the summers where Ger had been away with Doctors without Borders.

"You saw him?" She asked, knowing that wasn't exactly the most common of things, but she guessed that after something like that Brody would use her badge to get herself through to see him.

"At the hospital. I was so scared I lost him then." She was still speaking quietly, almost as if from a very long way away. Beth knew that was partly exhaustion, and partly fear. Brody needed to crash. "This time I feel even more like I'm going to lose him."

"MB... I'm not going to let you lose him. Alright?" She reassured her friend, struggling to see her so down. It was always painful when someone was so upset, and even more when it was something Beth was in the position to change. "Go get some sleep in the van." She nodded, and after a moment Brody nodded and made her way out of the tent and headed over to the relief van.

It was clear that Robinson had been playing close attention to what had been going on at the table. "Is she always like this?" He asked, and she couldn't even blame him for wondering that. She knew many of them wondered that when someone was quite so flat and worried by what was going on around them. It was more concerning when it was a fellow federal agent.

"No." She assured him then looked back out toward the van and frowned just a little to herself. She knew that there were situations, there were always situations. After such a long relationship nobody should really be surprised. "But considering that I think she and James have been together almost as long as me and Ger, on and off."

"If Ruby was in a situation like this... I would not be as professional as she's being." That was something that others had told her before, but she hadn't really thought about it. Thinking on it, she had to admit Brody was being far more professional than most people would be, she wasn't trying to be a hero, she was following her orders. "I'd be running in and pulling her out." Robinson continued with a small smile, and that was what something Beth did know well.

"While I'm sure Brody would do that if she thought she'd live, but I admit... If Ger was in there I would be less than she is." She had never been great at keeping things professional where her family were involved. Brody, on the other hand, had never been less. "She was always like this though. She doesn't let personal considerations affect her." It was something she had always been a little jealous of.

"That's good, isn't it?" Robinson asked, clearly wondering if Beth was judging her friend. The truth was she just really wished that she'd been like that on the various times that Geraint had been caught up in her cases. That had been something that had happened on more than one occasion.

"It is." She smiled, and shrugged just a little. Only because she was certain that she didn't needed to explain why. They rest of their team didn't know what it was like to have a partner outside the team.

"So, are we going on this?" Robinson asked after a few minutes, and Beth had to think for a few seconds. She was certain that she would be able to write that off if she needed too.

"Yes we are now that I know what we're doing, first thing first is getting the innocents out, including Mr. Lathom." She was determined that she was going to keep that promise to Brody. Beth didn't go back on her word, and she wasn't about to start now. This situation was not great for anyone, and all she could think was where the hell were the experts. She didn't know, but she hoped they'd hurry the hell up and get there to back her up.


	10. Chapter 10

**This is an odd chapter.  
Shin xx**

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Brody had been having some sort of conversation, sat alone with Hernandez in the communications tent, or she thought she had been anyway. She didn't really know what about, or remember anything about it, but she had been talking about something. "Brody, what's up?" Came a question, and a few seconds later she looked up realising that someone had actually been talking to her.

"What?" She asked blankly, and she had to think about something, she wasn't sure what, but bringing herself back into the conversation was a much better idea than she probably should have expected. The truth was that her mind was sitting worrying, and thinking, about James.

"Your face, what is it?" Hernandez smiled, pointing in the direction of Brody's face. That was when she realised she'd probably been pulling a similar face to the one she'd been imagining on James. It was just a cute image, and she was really missing him right now. Which was weird considering he was less than 500 metres away.

"Sorry, Hernandez. What do you mean?" She asked again and looked at her. She just hadn't followed the conversation at all. It was not the best thing, but she was really easily distracted. At least Hernandez seemed to be taking it a lot better than some of the others had when she'd blanked in the middle of a conversation.

"You look like you're a million miles away." Hernandez asked and smiled at her. There was just a lot going through her mind, and that was definitely a problem. She needed to try and focus again, so maybe telling someone about the thoughts of James she'd been having would make it easier.

"Yeah, I was just thinking about James, and who he was when I met him." Back then, James was so very different. She loved him now too, and she'd loved him back then too. She just knew that he was exactly what she'd wanted, and needed, then and now.

"Oh really?" Came the next question. That probably wasn't all that surprising, and somehow Brody felt a little more comfortable talking James with anyone other than Beth. Because she'd known Beth for years, while Hernandez just seemed the trustworthy type.

"He was such an idiot, like most guys at that age." She laughed, thinking about him again. When she was that age she was a bit of an idiot too. James had been a lot more of one, but they'd both been as bad as each other.

"How old were you?" She asked, frowning a little. That was when Hernandez had thought they were very young. They weren't that young, but they seemed so much younger now than they had been then.

"Twenty six. Both of us." Was it really that long ago? that was more than ten years ago, and she'd known that time was passing, but sometimes she didn't notice how much until she actually sat and thought about it. Now thought, it was obvious that time had been going.

"Cute." Hernandez replied and looked at her with a smirk. She was about to go on when her phone buzzed in her pocked, and as she pulled it out and read the message, and she understood suddenly so much more about all of this. She also knew James was trying to help them. "Now what's the face?"

"I got a message, I'll be right back." She jumped up and ran to the back room where everyone else was. Of course, that meant that she'd have to tell more than just her friend. She could do exactly what happened. "Beth!"

She turned to Beth and handed her the phone. That was really all she needed to do. Beth clearly didn't get it straight away. "Yeah?" Beth turned to look at her, and that was when Brody realised that things were done.

"I just got a message from inside." She nodded to her phone again, that was when she realised exactly how much he'd risked by showing her this, telling her what the problem was.

"What?" Beth looked shocked, and clearly not one of them had expected James to have got another message through to them. Not after so long. It had been hours, and James had been using his phone to talk to the BBC. So none of them had expected that he'd have enough battery.

"James. He had a spare phone, always had." She frowned a little as she looked at the phone, then she wondered if he kept it just in case there was a situation like this. He hadn't mentioned it since they'd gotten back together, so maybe she'd just assumed. "I didn't know he still had it."

"What does it say?" Archer asked, and slowly but surely the whole team was hanging around her waiting to know the news from inside. She wasn't sure how much help it would be, but James seem to know what he was saying, and he obviously assumed that whoever she was going to show this message too knew what they were talking about.

' _Ben Baxter barely has any support, focus on appealing to junior members._ ' She read it aloud for those who couldn't see the screen.

"That's great." Someone said, following that thought process, it probably was. She was probably the only one who was worrying this much right now. James was giving them an out, and she was worrying about it, of course.

She just kept nodding as she thought slowly. She wanted to what everyone thought were the chances for James. What she now cared about most, was that James was alright and healthy. She just needed for him to be alright now, and now that things were getting to this point, she was so afraid that things weren't working out for him. "Yeah, it is. But what does it mean for James?"

"That I don't know, not yet." Beth said dismissively, and Brody just stared at her. After a second Beth seemed to realise what she'd done, and had the decency to glance at Brody a little sheepishly. "We'll work that out." She said after a few minutes and just walked to her and rubbed Brody's arm.

"Are you sure?" She asked, and frowned a little. Beth just didn't seem entirely confident, and that really bothered Brody. She was so used to her friend being confident and certain of everything. Seeing that just made her worried.

"Yes, I am." Beth nodded and smiled after a few minutes and then looked down at the phone and nodded. Brody wasn't sure why at first. She just looked down at the phone again, then looked back at Beth questioningly. "Message him back, ask if he's OK." She said and thought whether or not that was the best of ideas, then she looked back at the phone.

"Yeah, good plan." She thought for a few minutes about what to text, and finally just text the most obvious thing. She really worried, so writing that somehow was the easiest way for her to start feeling a little better. It wouldn't last, but it was something, and it would do for now.

Waiting for the message back seemed to take an eternity, but eventually there was a ding, and her phone lit up. ' _Yeah, I'm OK. Don't worry about me. Battery dying. Love you._ ' She let out a breath and smiled at the text, until she read it a second time. There was something bothering her about the wording of his message. She didn't really know what it was though, or why she couldn't stop thinking about it. She just stared at the message and thought and worried. The relief that came with asking about him had lasted an entire 2 minutes.

"Something is wrong, but I don't know what." She said, looking at the message and again at Beth. Something was wrong, and it just wasn't something she could put her finger on. All she knew was that that wasn't the usual way he'd message her.

"Why?" Beth clearly didn't see the problem, and maybe in and of itself that was the problem. She should have seen what was happening, and how things weren't working quite as she'd thought. Brody wasn't really in the position to say anything though, as she didn't know enough about cults to even be sure. So she was going to stick to what she knew, and that was that James' text sounded wrong.

"He never texts like this." She started, handing the phone to Beth again and bit her lip as she thought about it. Maybe she was getting paranoid, or maybe she was afraid of losing him.

"It could be just that he's worried, and stressed." He was probably both, but that still didn't account for what she felt was wrong with the text. In all their years together, he'd never text her like that. So it concerned her.

"Yeah. I guess." She just trailed off and bit her lip a little as she thought. She wasn't so sure she was going to buy that as a reason, but it was better than nothing, and she felt a little happier accepting it than not.

"Like he says, don't worry about him. Worry about work, and getting him back." Beth's little pep talk didn't actually help, and not worrying about him wasn't really an option she had. In all the years they'd been together, she'd always worried.

"I spend half my life worrying about work, it feels a little nicer worrying about James." She smiled a little, because while she hated everything about this situation, being worried about James was much less annoying than it had been ten years earlier. So maybe she would spend the next amount of time worrying about him anyway. She could always worry about both, she was pretty sure she could anyway.

It was at that moment a gunshot sounded, and the tent around them erupted. All Brody could think was that she hoped James was safe.


	11. Chapter 11

**This chapter has a few threats and a bit of violence. We're now more than halfway through this one.  
Shin xx**

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Texting Meredith had been all James could think to do once he'd managed to get his old phone partially charged. He hadn't used it in years, and he had no idea if it would actually work. When he managed to get a short message off to Meredith he took a deep breath and smiled. They knew the most crucial information he'd picked up, and that was the most important thing. What he hadn't been expecting was for her to message back, and the obnoxious tone played before he could silence it. "Shit." He whispered as he stopped it and fired off a fast response to Meredith.

"What was that?" Came a sound from outside, and while James knew that they weren't actually asking him, he knew that he needed to say something, and if he didn't say anything they would be even more suspicious. That was the way the minds of these people worked.

"Nothing, I just stubbed my toe." He hoped that covered it, he wasn't sure it would, as the tone had been louder than he'd thought it would be. That meant he was pretty sure they would have heard it. He hated that, and he'd always said that he would change it. After all these years he still hadn't.

"We're coming in to check." He heard the gruff voice of his least favourite of Baxter's henchmen. He was pretty sure that Grimey held him in similar regard. Either that or Grimey was as ready for violence as the average football hooligan back home. The last thing he needed was for Grimey to come in here.

"No it's fine." He tried to deflect. Hiding the phone under a few books and things on his bed. He hoped that it was covered enough, and that Grimey and his friend wouldn't come in and do a lot of searching. He really didn't need that. If they found the phone he'd just be grateful that it was encrypted.

"Move." Came a barked order, and that was the moment that James knew he hadn't hidden at all well enough. A moment later the other guard spoke. James wasn't sure he knew this one, which wasn't unexpected, but it was annoying. He didn't know how strong he actually was. "What's that?"

"It's nothing." He replied quickly, hoping to distract them from their find, and from searching entirely. He knew they'd find things if they searched completely. Things that he wanted to keep to himself until he knew for certain he was getting out of here.

"It's a cell phone." Grimey said, and when James looked to him there was the most sinister of smiles on his face. If he'd been a lesser man, James may have been intimidated by the look, but as it was, he wasn't the first beefhead to threaten him. "Go get Baxter. I'll try not to kill him before he gets here." There was the expected threat, and James was sure that if he wanted to, Grimey could snap him in two.

"If you kill me you'll never know what I said." He started and smiled, because he knew that no matter what went on, they would want to try and get as much information out of him as possible, be it on what was known about their organisation, or whether it be about each of them personally. He didn't feel the need to tell them he hadn't said anything they hadn't seen in the media.

"There are ways for me to find out." There was that sinister, dangerous smile again. James just found himself staring at Grimey and trying to figure out if he was this aggressive with his wife. The truth was probably not, but it was interesting to think on for a second.

James tried to laugh it off. He was worried, but not overly concerned. Mostly because he'd already become accustomed to his fate. He was certain that Grimey wouldn't understand that, and it meant that he was going to have to keep the pretence up, at least for a little while. "I'm a journalist, you're not the first to threaten me."

"What were you doing with this?" Grimey held the hand less than an inch from the end of his nose, and James gave up trying to focus on it and instead looked at the man holding it. He looked like a beefhead, and from all experiences, he was.

"Texting my girlfriend, telling her that I'm alright." That was partly true, he had told her that he was already, and that she shouldn't worry about him, but at least that was truth Grimey would buy. He'd probably be pissed, given they knew about Merri's profession.

"Your girlfriend the fed?" Grimey then laughed loudly, clearly finding what was going on there hilarious. Maybe federal agents weren't supposed to have a good life in his mind. Who knew. All James was certain of was that they were really pissed that his girlfriend was an agent. "What else have you been telling the feds huh?"

"My girlfriend being a federal agent has nothing to do with this." He tried to think of a way he could play it, or spin it, so that the headlights weren't on him anymore. He needed to think of a way, maybe pointing out the jurisdictional problem would work best. "Those outside are FBI, my girlfriend is NCIS."

"She have a name your girlfriend." Grimey asked, and that was the one thing that James wasn't going to give away. He refused to give them the name, always just referring to her as his friend, his girlfriend or his partner.

"Not one I'm telling you." He snapped, and had to resist the urge to spit at Grimey as he was held there, and it was going to drive him mad. He needed to do something, but he needed to keep it passive. He could be a sarcastic asshole, but he couldn't do anything physical.

"She's here you know, and I'm going to make sure that when this goes south, she's the first one I aim for." Grimey's sinister look, and voice, made it seem like he already had Meredith in his sights. James wasn't going to react the way that was wanted though. Too much was riding on him not being afraid. He knew in Meredith's job she'd been up against some of the worst there were in the world, so James doubted that he'd be successful even if he did target her.

"She's had bigger threats than you aiming at her." He commented and shrugged a little. That was the truth, and he also knew that there was a problem for Grimey if he thought that Meredith was going to be a walkover. "She's alive and they aren't. Think twice about trying to target her." He might as well warn him, because otherwise she'd take him by surprise.

"What have you told them?" Grimey shouted louder this time. He was clearly not happy about any of this. Which was not really very surprising.

"You don't like being told you're not the best, do you?" James continued prodding, because one way or another this was not going to end well. He might as well go out harassing someone who deserved it.

"Shut your face. Just shut it." Grimey was so angry about something, and it was completely hilarious, for some reason. Maybe James was just beginning to get used to things the way they were now, and Grimey's anger just amused him.

"Make me." He challenged with a grin. He was almost certain that all of this was going to end badly for him. He didn't care anymore about that any more. One way or another it wasn't going to be easy.

"Do you think I won't shoot you? Because I will." James just stood there, against the wall and smiled serenely. He was certain that Grimey would do something, and he just didn't think that it would be to actually shoot him. A moment later he heard the shot at the exact same time he felt a ripping pain in his upper shoulder and let out a yelp.

"Grimey." Came a shout a second after James' yell. He hadn't been able to get out of being caught by the bullet. Suddenly there were two people fussing over him. People he swore hadn't been there a few seconds earlier.

"It's nothing, I aimed for where it wouldn't do anything other than hurt, and bleed." Bleeding it was, but that was all it was doing. It was also painful, that was true too. He hoped that it started to lessen soon.

"Get an aid kit. We don't want him dead." Baxter ordered, looking at him. He held his arm, glad that looking at it, it seemed a very shallow wound, and he at least wouldn't be bleeding too much with some care. "I will rein him in this time, but not again. You should tell us what you told the feds."

"I told them everything, but you already know that, because you've still been watching the news, and I told everything on air." He had said absolutely everything on air, and he would do it again. The best thing was he knew that the agents would be watching it too, and that would mean that Meredith would have told them that he didn't exaggerate. "They watch it too, and my girlfriend will back up that I wouldn't lie."

"You have just made all this far more awkward for yourself, Mr. Lathom." Baxter said a little angrily. It was probably true, but everything right now was awkward anyway. He wasn't going to be easy to handle, even less so now one of the goons had shot him. That had just confirmed something he'd been thinking all along.

"Oh let's be real, as soon as the feds showed up my chance of getting out of here alive plummeted." He had known that the minute they'd shown up, long before they knew anything about Meredith. He wasn't going to make life easy for Baxter and his goons. "I'm going to make everything as difficult on you as I possibly can between now and when you kill me. The last thing I think about will be my girl, and how she always worried it would come to this." He would always think about Meredith last, no matter the situation. He'd known that since the day they'd met.

"Noble words. We'll see if you're that brave when we kill you." Baxter said before pulling Grimey out of the room. The young kid who had been trying to help him a few days ago was there trying to patch his arm up. The pain was intense, but he knew this wasn't the worst they could do. He was sure worse would be coming, when they could do something, or use him for something, worse would be done. He hoped that Meredith would find him before then.


	12. Chapter 12

**I couldn't really resist with this chapter.  
Shin xx**

* * *

Beth Callahan had been dreading this moment. She hated having to talk to people like this cult leader. It was something that she'd never been good at, because she wasn't trained for it. She fought the bad guys, she didn't sympathise with them. So she just stared at the phone and then hit the number. They had been assured it was working, and that she would be able to talk to Baxter. As soon as the number was dialled and it rang once, Beth jumped hearing the voice say hello, and then thought it was best she speak. "Is this Benjamin Baxter?"

"You the FBI lady?" He replied, and she didn't really know what to think. He sounded a little softer than she thought he would. For some reason, she always assumed that people like Baxter would sound gruff and angry. This guy wasn't, he was soft spoken. Right now at least.

"Yes, Mr. Baxter I am. We've been anticipa-" She started again, desperately just wanting to get through all of this. She didn't want to be stuck in this situation really, she was so far out of her comfort zone that she hated everything about this.

"Put Lathom's girlfriend on." That was slightly more sinister, and more what she'd expected of a man like Baxter. She was a little too taken aback to think logically for a second, because not one of them had expected Baxter to want to talk to Brody. Not one of them had expected that.

"Excuse me?" She asked, everyone around who could hear the conversation looked surprised, including Brody. Not surprising, she looked completely taken aback too. She clearly hadn't expected to be requested either.

"You can't be her, he said she's not FBI, though you sound foreign too." Well, that was a piercing observation. She was foreign, she always would be. She didn't sound like James though, they were from different countries, albeit on the same island. Baxter, clearly, wasn't going to back down about getting Brody on the phone. "Put his girlfriend on. I'll wait." She motioned for their end to be silenced for a minute, then turned to Brody and looked at him.

"You sure MB?" Beth asked, studying her friend for a moment. Normally she wouldn't even consider putting the loved ones of a hostage on the phone with the taker, but Brody wasn't just any old person. She was another federal agent, and she deserved to make the decision herself.

"Yeah, I'm an interrogator remember, he's not gonna get a rise." She seemed certain, and that confidence made Beth think a few seconds longer. Beth thought about it all, and nodded after a few seconds and tried to make sure that she was doing the right thing. Eventually, Brody's experience as an agent was what tipped Beth over.

"Good. Alright. Give her a headset." She nodded, and was glad that within a few seconds someone had kitted Brody out with the full headset rather than just the headphones she had been wearing. As soon as everything was on, Beth gave her a nod to tell her that it was time to start speaking.

"Hello, Baxter." Brody said, far more darkness than Beth would have expected. She never sounded that harsh, not even with suspects. But this had pushed her over.

"Oh, now is this Lathom's girlfriend? The NCIS Agent?" He asked, and Brody flinched almost imperceptibly. Beth was certain that nobody else caught it, but she did. She knew Brody though, and nobody else here did.

Brody nodded even though he couldn't see her, and Beth just watched. She couldn't really imagine doing this if her husband had been held by a crazy person. In fact, the few times Geraint had been involved in her cases, she'd almost always ended up being pulled off them. She couldn't keep her cool, she knew Brody could. "I'm NCIS Special Agent Meredith Brody, yes."

"Brody. She your girl?" They heard a sickening thud, and a groaned response. Every agent in the tent clearly wanted to make a move to protect James, but none of them moved. Not even Brody, though she flinched again, a little more noticeably this time. "Good. At least you're not bullshitting me. I'll talk to you. What do you want?" Baxter clearly wanted something from Brody, but she didn't know what.

"We want the safe evacuation of all your people." Brody said before Beth could even scribble down an answer. Suddenly Beth was glad that she had decided to give Brody the opportunity. It might even make it easier than it otherwise would have been.

"My people?" Baxter sounded like he didn't entirely believe her, and Beth leant forward and scribbled 'women and children' on the paper. Maybe focusing on them wouldn't help, but in the majority of cases it did, so she was going to play on the side of averages.

"Everyone in your compound, especially women and children." Brody eventually said, clearly trying to make it sound like she was totally compassionate and invested in what happened to everyone there, not just James. Everyone there needed to make out alive for this to be considered a win.

"Isn't your boyfriend important?" There was something cold about the way Baxter asked that, and Beth felt the shivers up the back of her neck, and other than the tentative connection through Brody, Beth didn't know James Lathom at all. She couldn't imagine what that would have done to her friend, but Brody seemed to be just rolling with it.

"Of course he is." Beth shook her head and Brody just held her hand up. Beth took a breath and tried to remind herself that Brody knew what she was doing. It may not always seem like it, but she did and Beth should trust her. "But we want to get everyone out of here, alive."

"I'm not sure how possible that is Meredith." Another collective shudder went around the room, and Beth had to bite her tongue so as not to shout in response. She wasn't sure exactly who that had been meant as a threat to, but it had clearly been threatening someone.

"We're willing to discuss terms with for the release of James, but you have to speak to Agent Callahan from the FBI." Beth was about to take over when Brody held her hand up again, Beth just narrowed her eyes confused, but wondering what Brody wanted. "Can I speak to James please?"

There were a few scrapes and shuffles, and a few harsh words, then all of a sudden there was a different voice on the line, the one they'd all heard reporting to the BBC a few hours earlier. This voice was quieter now, and they could clearly hear the pain he was trying to hide. "Hey MB."

"Hey." Brody's voice broke a little, and that was all Beth needed to hear to start sending the rest of the staff back to work. Brody deserved a little privacy while she spoke to her partner, and it wasn't going to hurt any of them to give her that, it could also give them time to run through the game plan.

"Give them a second, someone start telling me what we've got to offer." She wasn't asking anyone specifically, she just needed ideas of what they could give away, or accept as a demand, from this cult. She needed a list.

"I have no idea." Someone said, and Beth didn't have time to clock who before everyone started scattering to find out what information they could. While she saw her team moving around too she thought of other things she could do to get this going.

"Hernandez, get the state trooper in, start working on an exit strategy." She wanted someone on her team to be in charge of the troopers, and there was nobody else who could be better suited to that job than Hernandez.

"Yes boss." That was when Hernandez nodded over at Brody, who was talking quietly. Beth didn't know what about, but she was certain that she would just be reassuring James that they would be coming to collect him soon. "Is she OK?"

"I have no idea, honestly. She's holding it together better than I would be." Beth knew herself well enough for that. They all knew that really. Most of them would never have to face the situation that Brody was in, so supporting her was what mattered, along with getting everyone else out safely.

"Yeah, me too. Anyway, I'll go talk to the Troopers." Hernandez smiled a little, holding her notepad. Beth took another deep breath and started a mental inventory of what she needed, watching Brody as she did.

"He wants you now." Brody said, she looked worried, but at least she'd now gotten to talk to James for a few minutes, and she was absolutely certain that that would mean that she felt better about the last moves of this. Beth knew they were coming to the end.

"James sound alright?" She asked, worrying about him. He hadn't sounded the best in the few little bits they heard over the phone. Brody just shrugged, and while she looked concerned, she wasn't afraid for him like she had been before.

"He's alive, but I could tell he's in a lot of pain." Knowing what went on in these situations, that was probably the best that anyone could hope for. At least, it seemed, like there was going to be a resolution soon, and then Brody and James could be reunited.

"I'll work on information." She rubbed Brody's arm then took the headset back. She wasn't exactly relishing the idea of talking to this asshole, but she was the only one here now who could do it. "OK Baxter, let's talk terms." She tried to keep the bitterness out of her voice because she knew, beyond all doubt, that this was going to be the only way she'd get everyone out alive, but it probably meant Baxter would have immunity. She wasn't really sure she could live it.


	13. Chapter 13

**This chapter starts a little more of it all moving. I'm enjoying this bit, I think you'll like it as readers... I hope.  
Shin xx**

* * *

After Beth had managed to arrange for the release of most of the civilians in the compound, Brody and Hernandez had been the only ones allowed to the door, and each had been trusted a child then made to go. That had happened three times now, and she was getting annoyed and frustrated. They had got into a routine meaning that it was almost continuous. As she again got to the door, this time she was handed a girl of about 5 years old. "OK come on sweetie."

"Where's my mommy?" The little girl asked as Brody started pulling her away from the building that was the stronghold. It was clear that she was terrified, and really Brody couldn't say that she entirely blamed her. At that age she would have been too.

"She'll be along soon, I promise." That seemed to be the best idea, and probably the easiest way for Brody to confirm that she didn't mean any harm to this little girl, or to any of the people in this building. They might be holding James, or their leader was, that didn't mean anything for the average member, and she knew that.

"Are you going to hurt us?" That question hurt her a little, but she realised quickly that that was what these people taught their children. That anyone who wasn't one of them would want to hurt them. Brody hoped that she could help these children adjust to the world outside of this compound.

"No, sweetie, nobody is going to hurt you, come along." She smiled and then just pulled her along, nodding at Hernandez around midway back as she headed back to the door. Between the two of them they would have this bit done soon, and she couldn't wait. Playing ferry wasn't her favourite thing. She handed the girl off to one of the agents who was manning the red cross area, while she popped into the command tent to check in with Beth and the team.

"Brody, how you doing?" Robinson said as she stepped in, giving her a knowing smile. He was the one who she had complained about her lack of patience to on the last pass through. She should have known he'd remember that, he was that type of person.

"They are only releasing them one at a time to either me or Hernandez." She said, and nodded as Beth looked over at them. She wasn't entirely surprised in the end, because it had been a very odd situation to be in at all. She just didn't understand why they were doing it this way. "I don't get it."

"Hernandez looks less white, so they probably assume she is me." That was true. While there was no noticeable accent to Hernandez, who spoke as many languages as Brody did, it seemed. That was trivia she'd picked up in the last 12 hours. Beth clearly wasn't all that concerned about the fact they were giving Hernandez all the attention. "Let them continue thinking that for now until we've all the kids out."

"Yeah. How many are there?" She asked, wondering how many times she and Hernandez were going to have to do this with these kids. But it was worth it, she had to admit that. She might not think it best, but if they were safe, that was something.

Beth looked at the paper in front of her, and that meant that at least Beth knew that the information she was going to be given was totally accurate. "Eleven registered, then we want the registered pregnant woman out next, then James." It was nice to hear James' name there, but she selfishly wished it was higher. "After that, the other women, then anyone who wants to leave."

"You sure you can do it?" Beth asked, clearly just a little concerned that she was doing too much in too short a time, and Brody understood that she just needed to be completely aware of her limits in all of this.

"I'm not making Hernandez do this on her own, she's tiny." That was all she could really think. It wouldn't be too much for the younger woman, she was sure, but she wouldn't feel right if she left it to someone else.

"She's the same height as me." Beth looked confused at her, and that caused Brody to laugh. That was something she really needed to think about. Half the women in the world would be shorter than she was, so it wasn't all that unusual.

"Case in point." She teased, because Beth wasn't exactly the tallest. Brody was slightly tall for a woman, Beth and Hernandez were both several inches smaller, while Fletcher was taller even than Brody was. At least it seemed Beth was taking the teasing well.

"I have no problem beating you Brody, go get the rest of the kids." Beth ordered, and Brody knew she wasn't being polite. It was going to all be over faster if she picked up the pace. That was what she wanted, she wanted this to all be finished now.

"Hernandez!" She shouted after a while searching around the makeshift camp for those they had just evacuated. She was certain that if James was here she would be able to see him, so maybe asking if Hernandez had moved him, or seen him, would tell her where he was and why he wasn't there with her.

"Yeah?" Hernandez smiled at the little girl she'd been talking to then stood up and walked over the Brody a little. Brody just watched as the little girl climbed into the sleeping bag that she'd been provided to try and get some sleep in. It had been a very long day for them all.

"Did you get James out?" She asked, noticing the hint of urgency and panic in her own voice and started trying to clamp down on those emotions. They wouldn't help any of them, and they wouldn't really help James either. In fact, he'd end up pissed at her if she continued. She knew him well enough for that.

"No, I assumed he went out with you before they opened the door." Hernandez didn't look concerned, just quietly cautious, which Brody was coming to learn was her automatic mental state. She seemed to be very much a calm person who didn't like to worry overmuch. That didn't make Brody feel better in this situation, for some reason.

"I haven't seen him." Hernandez answered quietly, clearly looking around the gathered evacuees around them. None of them were James, and that meant he probably wasn't here.

"You should go speak to Callahan, I'll keep looking for him." There was a slightly more confident smile, and that gave Brody the strength to put her worry aside for a moment and start thinking logically about what she really needed to do next. Which was start the next stage if James wasn't here.

"If you see him, tell him I... you know." She didn't want to tell a virtual stranger to tell her partner that she loved him, but she hoped that Hernandez worked out what it was that she had wanted to say.

"I'll tell him, go and put in the report." Hernandez rubbed her arm with a smile, and that helped Brody feel a little more confident and happy in the situation, or she tried to let it. She was just so paranoid. Hernandez was right, she should go report to Beth that they didn't think that James had come out.

She walked in and looked for Beth. Rather than speaking to anyone else she walked right over and frowned. There was something wrong, she knew that, and she wasn't sure how she knew that, but she knew. A problem had happened, and they just didn't know it yet. "James never left the building."

"What?" Beth answered looking utterly confused. That didn't actually help Brody feel any better. Beth should have surely known this before she allowed for the next wave, but it was too late for that now. What mattered is nobody had seen James.

"Neither Hernandez nor I saw him, and I couldn't find him on my way up here." She had looked, every face she'd passed. All of it. She just wanted to see his face again.

"Check, has anyone set eyes on James Lathom." Beth spoke into the walkie talkie she was using to direct her teams around the site, and it had been working well. For some reason though, the idea that James wasn't out was terrifying her, and becoming more likely by the second.

"No boss, nobody's heard him." Came the staticky response from Archer a few moments later. That was not what Brody had wanted to hear. She had wanted to hear that James was sat at an intake place with an agent. Clearly though, he was still in there.

"They reneged on the deal. What if he's hurt." She started talking at a mile a minute as her brain zoomed off thinking up every possible bad outcome and difficult situation she'd been in. That was a problem, and she couldn't help but picture James as being in all of them.

"Brody, calm. We have most of the civilians out, then we'll do a full headcount." Beth snapped, and that was exactly what Brody had needed to get her out of her mood.

"Yeah. You're right." She tried to work on calming herself, and it wasn't really working. She was just panicked now, and she couldn't seem to talk herself down or stop herself worrying about the sheer ridiculousness of her reaction.

"I know you want to see him, but the safety of the other civilians is our priority right now. We'll get James." Beth reassured her, and she just nodded a little and took another deep breath. Maybe they'd just missed James. That wasn't totally out of the realm of possibility. Being patient in situations like this wasn't something she was very good at doing, but she knew she needed to now. The best thing about this situation was that she now knew that she wanted to be with James. That was a positive, probably the only one.


	14. Chapter 14

**Back to James, and a little more info.  
Shin xx**

James had lost track of the amount of times he'd been punched or kicked until he was back on the floor. He hadn't even necessarily been trying to get up, sometimes just shifting his position slightly, but that hadn't seemed to matter all that much to Baxter and Grimey. All that had mattered to them was that he'd moved, and he wasn't unconscious. He was shifting positions again when Baxter spoke for the first time in god only knew how long."Oh look, they are doing as I said and letting the kids out."

"Good." That was all he could think to say. He didn't really care what happened to him as long as the innocents stuck in this situation made it out safely. He'd heard the deal that was made, and that was contingent on him leaving too. James knew though that Baxter wasn't going to let him go. Not alive at least. He was resigned to that.

"Your girl is out there." Baxter threw out casually a few seconds later, and James wasn't sure what it was that caused the stab of pain. Was it knowing that Meredith was nearby and totally unable to help him, or was it that he wanted her to be as far away from here as was possible, and she wasn't. There was another part of him that almost didn't want to believe she was there, and that was the part that made him speak.

"Meredith?" It sounded like a question, but it really wasn't. He knew her well enough to know she'd be there. She was always there. Her job was one of the most important things in life for her. He knew he was important, but they were the same in that way. The job was part of them, and they shared that with each other.

"Yeah, bring him." Baxter ordered, and a second later Grimey dragged him up, causing James to grunt loudly, and he was certain the wound in his upper arm started to bleed again. He decided that getting shot was not something he recommended, but he was proud of Meredith, suddenly, for having had this four times now.

"I'm no use to you now." He commented as soon as Grimey was holding him to the window, and the only good thing about this was that he could now see Meredith. He took strength in her presence, that was all he needed. She was nearby, and he was loved and wanted. That was all he needed here. "You don't need me."

"Oh you are, and I do." Baxter just smiled, and didn't elaborate at all further. James sat wondering what on Earth he would be useful for now, given that almost everyone in the world now knew what Baxter had done, and there was so little James could do to take that back. From where he was sat, James could still see Meredith working, and that sight gave him some happiness, some sense of calm in among all this. It was a little later, when all seemed to be quiet, that Baxter finally spoke again. "You're going to tell the world I'm a horrible person if I let you go."

"I think the FBI will be the ones doing that." He muttered, earning him another punch in the stomach, and he fell to the ground again as all the air in his body felt like it was knocked out of him. He just held his ribs as he closed his eyes until the stars stop flashing in front of him.

"You don't know when to shut up, do you?" Came a question, and that elicited a chuckle from James. He was often told that that was one of his problems as a reporter and as a person. He never had been very good at shutting up. He had a habit of saying the worst possible things at any time.

"I've been told that on more than one occasion." He ended up saying noncommittally. He just really didn't want to get into something with Baxter, and in truth, he didn't really want to have to get through this with another bullseye on his back. The truth was though, his smart mouth and inability to stay quiet was, again, going to likely directly lead to a possible death.

Baxter nodded again at the window, just in time for James to see a pair of familiar boots pass the window. He wasn't going to comment, but they reminded him how close Meredith was, and that was all he needed. "Think of your girl out there. She is very pretty, how did a guy like you get a girl like her?"

"Luck." He said honestly, thinking about Meredith and the dozens of things he'd done that should really have stopped her being interested in him, or wanting to be with him. Even while they'd been apart, he'd loved her, and he'd known she loved him. That had never been their problem. They truly loved each other, they were just both already married to their jobs.

"You know what would make killing you better for me?" Baxter muttered threateningly a little later, and James had no idea what to think in response to that, though the simple fact was that he almost certainly didn't want to know. He rarely did.

"I don't want to know." He ended up saying, since in the end it was all he could actually think to say. He knew that any threat given in this situation would be something that they would try to do if they could and that wasn't what he wanted. He didn't want anyone to be in more danger because of him.

"Killing her too." Baxter smiled eventually, answering his original question himself then kneeling in front of James and his grin just grew. That made James even more concerned. He wasn't concerned for Meredith, she was threatened every day, and nothing had stopped her so far. "Making you watch her slowly die."

"If you're going to kill me, why not just do it already?" James eventually spat out, not wanting to think about that image of his MB. She was too precious to him to imagine a sicko like Baxter actually winning at what he wanted from her, and James was stronger than to let him.

"Because I want to make you suffer. Maybe you did just come here at a bad time, and we're blaming you for nothing, or maybe secretly you and your fed girlfriend planned for this and it all went wrong." Baxter started walking around waving his arms, and James wondered if he was losing it all of a sudden. Did he really believe that James would put himself in this situation willingly. Did it really matter though, Baxter would believe what he wanted. "Either way, I don't trust you, and you will not leave this room."

It was at that moment that the boy who had been trying to help James all day burst in and turned his two guns on Grimey and Baxter. James had never learnt his name, but he got the feeling he was about to. "Don't be so sure of that Ben." He said, looking between the two cult members in the room, ignoring James entirely.

"Julian. You're supposed to be outside." Baxter said calmly, clearly not as concerned about this change of events as Grimey appeared to be. The bulky gentleman suddenly appeared to be jumpy, while Baxter had gone deadly calm.

"I wasn't going to let you do this." He motioned around the room with one of the guns. James still wasn't so impressed at having a gun pointed even in his direction, especially after having already been shot. Like most Brits, he just didn't understand the position, and he was a little concerned being around them, at least, when Meredith wasn't in control of them.

"Get out of here kid." Grimey shouted, and a second later he fell to the ground with a bullet through his head. James jumped, but neither Baxter nor Julian even gave a thought to the body on the floor. James was certain that shot would alert people to the problem here, and within minutes agents would be here. Possibly not fast enough, not with all the barricades they had set up between the stairs and this room.

"There, You think I won't shoot you Baxter?" Julian shouted loudly, now with both weapons trailed on Baxter. It was obvious that the kid was at breaking point, and he had been seeing this FBI raid as a way to get to safety. Maybe Jamed hadn't helped there all that much, but he'd certainly done something. Julian seemed to believe so, at least. "James came here to help us all, and he did. Nobody wanted you in charge anymore. Nobody but meatheads like Grimey. You abused your last girl."

"Julian, put the gun down kid." James started, he didn't really want to see this kid thrown in prison for what was happening here. He hoped that he could talk him down. But this was exactly what was needed here.

"I'm doing this to save you, James. You were helping. You released the file I got Kassidy to give you." That explained who, and why, the girl had been so adamant in him taking the file, and reporting that was in it. Maybe not entirely surprising, but still, not something that James had expected. One day, he could write a book about this situation. "You're a good man."

"I'm glad you think so, now put the weapon down." He was going to keep trying, because if the three of them could get out of the room alive it would be a good thing, and he was much happier about that whole idea.

"Listen to your friend, the journo." Baxter managed to make it sound like both a compliment and an insult all at once. That didn't seem to actually help Julian at all, especially when Baxter carried on talking. "As if you're going to be treated well."

"That isn't something I care about anymore." Julian continued going, and that was when James realised that there was not going to be anything that stopped this going the way that one of them was going die. He would give it one more try.

"You're a coward Baxter, why not just pack it in now. Go quietly." James might as well try that too. It was quite obvious that neither Baxter nor Julian were ready to back down, and that was definitely a problem.

"Because I still have a plan, and it involves killing you." James just continued staring him down, knowing that Julian's eyes were moving between the two of them. A few seconds passed, and he was getting more and more nervous what was going to happen next. He was about to move when suddenly there was a movement, a bang, and he knew in that instant it was over.


	15. Chapter 15

**Eeeeeeeeep...  
Shin xx**

* * *

The evacuation of the cultists had continued, and that hadn't been the easiest thing to allow to continue while she'd had Brody worrying beside her. So telling Brody to go and care for the evacuated and rescued children was the better idea. She knew that while Brody was doing what she'd been told, she was still worrying about finding James. For that matter, Beth was worried about finding him. He definitely hadn't come out, and they couldn't get eyes on him at all. "Anyone found Lathom yet?"

"Nope." Came the first answer from right beside her. She was happy to know that at least her team were listening to her. She was less happy to know that Fletcher hadn't seen him yet. Then again, Fletcher was mostly observing the holding area, and they had already established that James wasn't there.

"No boss." Hernandez was the next to answer, and given that everyone was reporting to Hernandez, she would be the one to know if anyone had seen him. That was even more disheartening. It meant that she was going to have to do something she didn't want to do. At least most of the innocents were out of the building, and wouldn't be hurt by any action she needed to take next.

"Alright, I think at this point we can safely say that he's not been released." She sighed and gripped the bridge of her nose for a moment and frowned. She really wasn't looking forward to this bit, but it now needed to be done. She'd been planning for this, but she had been hoping beyond hope that she wouldn't need it.

"I think so." Fletcher agreed, standing beside the table and looking down at the hasty plan Beth had been drawing up. There were two teams waiting for an order anyway, just in case, so she would be able to order a group in as soon as she was ready. "What shall we do?" Fletcher ended up asking after Beth hadn't said anything for a few minutes.

"We need to go in, get the rest of the residents out and find him." She eventually said and shook her head a little bit. She hated that she was the one in charge of this, and she suddenly remembered that she'd never actually wanted to be in charge of anything. She would much rather be taking on a team of domestic terrorists than a situation like this one. At least she knew she was doing the right thing when it came to terrorism.

"What about Brody?" Hernandez asked coming up beside them, and Beth had to admit, she was worried about her friend too. She hadn't even really thought about how this would affect Brody and she decided that, possibly, it would be best if she kept her friend as far away from this decision as was physically possible.

"Leave her in the dark as long as we can." She shrugged and thought about everything that Brody could help with, but she also knew that in this type of situation there was no guarantee that she would actually be helpful.

"Why?" They both asked at the same time, and that was when Beth realised that sometimes her team were a little behind her thought process. They were also by and large young, free and single. When those things changed, so did the outlook on life. She'd learnt that the hard way.

"Imagine you're in her situation." Beth said, then stopped to let both women try and put herself where Brody was right now. Beth struggled to imagine this, because she'd never been here. But she knew that knowing what was happening would have made her crazy. "Let her tend to the kids like she has been doing, we'll tell her what's been going on with James when we have to."

Fletcher smirked a little at that and looked at Beth seriously. "By 'we' you mean 'you' right?" She asked, and all of a sudden Beth realised that no matter how it seemed like Brody had fit into her team the last few hours, they hadn't know of her existence until she'd arrived here, and expecting them to tell her something like this would be pushing it.

"I mean me, yes." She couldn't help but roll her eyes, but she would take the fall for it when it was necessary. She decided that, at this point, it was time to just start moving on with her plan, as at least then it would all be over. She picked up the walkie talkie that was connected to her team leaders. "Robinson, is your team in position?"

"We're here, waiting your order." Came a slightly breathless reply, and Beth realised that whatever Robinson and his team had been talking about before she called through they'd been laughing. That was a good thing. It was nice for them to let off a little steam, especially in a situation like this.

"Archer?" She then asked, deciding not to ask what Robinson and his team had been laughing about, the chances were that she really didn't want to know. She rarely did when it came to things that made that particular man laugh.

"Same." Came the answer a second later, and Archer sounded far more controlled and commanding. She wasn't going to comment on what that meant in her mind, other than that she was glad she'd sent the two of them out there rather than some of the others she'd had assigned here from the local office. "We're ready to go."

"You have the order gentlemen." She took a breath after giving that order and had to remind herself that she'd been pushed to it this time. They weren't going prematurely, and they'd gotten all the children out. She had done everything in her power to limit the potential for casualties. She could still do more though, and as she thought that, she decided that reminding her agents to hold their fire unless necessary was a good idea. "Hold your fire unless the order is given."

"Yes ma'am." She heard back over the radio, and it took a few seconds for her to realise that it was Archer who had just called her 'ma'am'. She was too shocked for a second to do much other than stare at the walkie-talkie in her and open and close her mouth a few times.

"Did he just ma'am you?" Fletcher asked, giving the walkie-talkie a very similar, slightly distrustful, look. It seemed like they both had a similar reaction to that, though Beth made a mental note not to let them sit near each other on the drive to whichever airport they were going to to go home when this was done. She really didn't fancy separating them like a bored mother.

"I'll hit him later." She commented back to Fletcher while studying her hand-drawn plan. She knew that there was an issue with those in the holding area seeing what was going on, so sending someone to back up Brody would probably be a good idea too. "Hernandez, go and make sure that Brody is distracted. We don't need her here right now."

"You sure?" Hernandez asked, and while Beth would normally appreciate someone giving her the sign that they may not agree with her, this wasn't the best time for it, and she wasn't really in the mood to justify or explain her reasonings for doing anything.

In the end she decided that going with a slight glare was a safer, and slightly saner, way of showing her displeasure at being asked, again, if she was sure about something. She knew what was needed, and how to go about doing that now. So of course she was. "I'm sure."

"Beth, what should we do with these people?" Came a question over the radio, and that was when Beth realised her teams were in and absolutely nothing was happening. She suddenly had a mental image of people just standing there and looking at her teams like they were nuts.

"Are they putting up a fight?" It didn't sound like they were, but right now she wanted to make sure. There was absolutely no chance she was going to let it all go to hell now if she could help it. Though she was certain that it wouldn't take much for this situation to somehow still go to hell, and remind her that she never wanted to leave counter-terrorism again. Still, if the remaining cultists were calm, that was one less thing for her to worry about.

"Nope. They just want it over." Archer ended up reporting a few seconds later, probably after having spoke to whoever was there with them. Baxter, possibly, or another one of the cultists who was acting as a group leader. She wasn't sure, but as long as they came out she was happy.

"Send them out the front." It was going to be the easiest way, and it had the biggest doors. She was contemplating how she'd fit them all where they were going when there was a sudden, loud, crack sound. She picked up the walkie-talkie instantly and almost screamed into it. "The hell was that."

"Gunshot, from the basement. Should we approach?" The question seemed redundant, but she knew she needed people to keep getting the people out too. So she made a snap decision, one she was sure wouldn't necessarily be popular.

"Archer, take your team down, keep in contact." Archer's team would be the best for that, if only because Beth knew that Robinson would be able to bond easier with the people he would now need to be protecting. "Robinson, have your team evacuate those still in the building. We'll start bussing them up to the city."

"You sure Beth?" She was asked again, and this time she was certain that she growled. It was getting too much, and she was going to have to kill someone.

"Why is everyone asking me that today. Yes, I'm sure. Get it done." Was she suddenly seeming unsure, or was it just that they were all exhausted and on the verge of breaking down. That was what she was going to think, anyway. Given there had been a shot now, she didn't have all that much left that she could do. She had to send her team down. "James I hope that wasn't you." She muttered into the universe, hoping beyond hope that she wasn't going to be having to break to her friend that so close to the end her boyfriend had been shot. Somehow though, she still felt like they would get a good result from this. She was not normally the optimistic one, but she was going to think about it here.


	16. Chapter 16

**Who was shot... and why...  
Shin xx**

* * *

The shot had terrified Brody, mostly because she knew what that meant, and she knew it probably wasn't good at all. There were several potential outcomes, and the number of them that weren't awful for James was pretty low. She suddenly started panicking just a little, and she decided that running to the command tent was a better idea. At least ten she'd know exactly what was going on. "Beth, what's going on?" She asked as soon as she saw her friend, but she already knew what she was going to be told.

"MB, you're not supposed to be here right now." Beth did actually look sorry that she had to say that. She was right, Brody knew that already, but she had needed to come anyway. It was just all she could do. She needed to know what was going on.

"I heard the shot Beth, what's going on?" She was going to push that for the moment. She wanted to know what was happening. What they were doing to find James and try and save him from this entire situation.

"We don't yet know. We've got teams going into the house now." That was not surprising, Brody had figured that would be part of the current plan. She was just nervous, especially now she realised it hadn't been one of their guys who had shot. "They will find James and find out what's going on."

"You promise me that you will find me the moment that you know anything." It was less a statement or question and more a demand. She just needed to know exactly what was happening and what she could and should do about it. That wasn't the way situations like this went though. It never had been. Even if that was what Brody wanted.

"Of course. Now I need you to go and do what you're good at." Beth motioned toward the outside of the tent. Did she really expect for Brody to just go back to work, to go back to dealing with all these terrible people who had all contributed to her being in this situation. That was the problem. She was pretty sure it was anyway. Maybe she didn't know right now, other than that she had a problem. "I need you out there, controlling the people we already got out. Reassuring people."

"Beth. He's OK, right?" She just needed to ask. She would go out. She would throw herself into her work and pretend that nothing bad was happening to anyone she loved. That would be her coping mechanism. She would force it to be that way. But she still needed to know if Beth truly believed that right now.

"He's OK MB." Beth nodded confidently, and that was halfway to being enough for her. Halfway. She wasn't going to truly believe it until she saw him, but she was certain that Beth knew what was going on and how it was happening. That was the whole problem and that was everything that she hated. Everything that she'd always hated. The simple fact that nobody in their line of work could ever conclusively say there would be a happy ending. "He'll be OK."

"I hope." She continued, trying to be a little less pessimistic, but she couldn't quite shake the bad feeling she had. She was just sure that whatever bullet had been fired had been aimed at James, and that they were going to find the man she loved laid in a puddle of his own blood. That was also an unhealthy mental image. As if sensing what she was thinking, Beth came up and rubbed Brody's arm.

"Go, work." She ordered again, and Brody just nodded a few times. She needed to go out there and work, she needed to go out there and do everything that she wanted to do and everything she needed to do. Most of that added up to distracting herself. She walked out and went to work. That was all she could do.

"Brody." She heard her name shouted, and when she turned she was so grateful to see her NCIS colleagues. It suddenly dawned on her exactly how serious this was. As her friends had just drove 6 hours to help them on this. That made her feel simultaneously comforted and terrified. Most of all though, she wondered why they were there.

Watching them walk over to her is settled in that they were going to be here for the outcome. How had they known to come for this specific bit. She had really needed them to be here for this, but she would never have said that to them until she absolutely had to. But they'd still somehow known. "What are you doing here?"

"We closed our case, thought we'd come and see if we could help." Pride smiled a little looking at her. Maybe it was obvious how desperate she was for this support because he gave her an unreadable look then started looking around, clearly realising that the FBI were still in charge here. "The FBI in the lead?"

"Yeah, SSA Bethan Callahan." She didn't mind giving out the name. It was probably common knowledge by this point anyway. Beth hated this job, but she was good at it, and so far she had gotten everyone out. There was nobody hurt by her teams, and that was even more of an achievement than she would ever give herself credit for.

"She any good?" LaSalle asked, and that was the proof that the only thing that federal agents really cared about. Was how well others did, and what they could do with the work they were given to do. The fact this wasn't Beth's speciality really wasn't obvious. So at least Brody could answer completely honestly.

"Was when I met her." That was her only comment on Beth, and the fact was that it had been such a long time since they'd met that that meant a lot. That was when she realised that her replied could be seen as cryptic, especially as Pride and LaSalle wouldn't know how long she had known Callahan. It wasn't likely to be common knowledge. At least not immediate knowledge.

"What does that mean?" So yes, LaSalle clearly didn't get what she meant by that, so maybe she had been a little too cryptic. She hadn't meant to be, but it seemed like that was becoming second nature to her. That was a problem, but not a horrific one. She could get herself out of that problem. She might not necessarily want to, but she could.

"She's good, she knows what she's doing." That was the only thing Brody could really say, because she knew that anything else would give away far too many details right in front of the people they were trying to keep it from. They didn't know if these people had a way to communicate with those still inside. So keeping it all need to know was a good choice, and Brody respected that.

"Good." Both Pride and LaSalle said the same thing at the exact same time, and that actually made her chuckle a little. Of course they would think that. Sure, neither of them really knew James well, but he was a part of their family by this point, as he was the person she was involved with.

"There was a shot Pride. I don't know what's happening." She felt her voice shaking, but she knew that he wasn't going to judge her for that. He had probably been in some situations like this with his ex wife, and they both knew that LaSalle had been in a situation like this that had had a tragic outcome. They'd both been there for that.

"Come here." Pride just opened his arms and pulled her into them almost instantly. She was grateful that she had someone who knew her well there now. While she knew Beth, and had a long history with her. They weren't close friends. Pride and LaSalle were different, they were people she saw every single day. "LaSalle, go find out what's going on, identify yourself as NCIS."

"Say you're my team." She advised, because that would at least mean Beth would feel a little more charitable to them, and would be more likely to let him help. That was her hope at least. Beth trusted her, so Brody hoped that she would trust the people Brody worked with.

Pride kept hold of her even as LaSalle walked off to the tent. It was a support she hadn't known she even needed. She'd thought she was coping so well. She really hadn't been. That had all been a lie. It was what she'd needed to say to herself to get through the last 12 hours. "James will be OK Brody."

"After what happened with Savannah... I can't lose him Pride." She looked to the little opening where LaSalle had just walked through and realised where she'd probably be if James didn't make it through this. That was not something she was prepared for. Hadn't she suffered enough already? Losing Emily and having to rebuild her entire life. James would be a step too far. "I've seen how that's cut LaSalle up, and I can't go through that. I have loved James for so long. I need him to walk out of that building."

"He will." Pride gave her a gentle squeeze then stepped back and took her shoulders, forcing her to look at him again, and she knew he was going to try and get her back to working. That was what she needed right now. To just be working and not thinking about what could be happening to James. That was not what she needed to think about, and he knew her well enough to know that too. "What are you doing?"

"Rations, giving food to those in the holding area." She nodded to the boxes behind her that were filed with dried food, and bottles for the two babies. She knew that they all needed this food out there. She also had bottles of water to hand out. That was something important too, and she should be doing that not standing here obsessing about something she couldn't change now.

"Come on, let's do that and leave LaSalle getting to know where the FBI are up to." That was probably a good idea. Beth wouldn't be as threatened by LaSalle as she would be by Pride, and Brody knew that she still wasn't feeling amazingly confident about what she was doin here. Brody knew she was doing the right things though, even if Beth wasn't certain.

"Thanks for coming." She just said quietly looking at him. Neither of them had needed to come. There had been a lot that they needed to do, but there was even more back home, she knew that, as she'd known what they'd needed to do when she'd left. She doubted that Percy could do all of that herself, though she was certain the young agent would try her hardest to do just that.

"You're our family, of course we came. That's why we left Percy at the office." Pride clearly knew what she was thinking, and that was even more helpful. It made her feel more confident about what Pride was saying. He had always known what he was doing.

"Probably a good choice." She let out a watery laugh and shook her head. She hadn't realised how close she'd been to breaking until the moment she'd seen Pride and LaSalle coming through. Seeing those two familiar faces were enough to tip her over the edge, and now it was going to be an uphill battle to stay strong until she saw James again. One way or another, it was going to be over soon.


	17. Chapter 17

**Holy moses!  
Shin xx**

* * *

The echo of the shot was only just fading in his ears when James realised that he wasn't the one that was hurt. He had so gotten himself ready to be the one who was hurt, and the one who was going to die, so not having any new pain was a real surprise. It was only then that he looked up and realised that Julian was the last one standing, and Ben Baxter was very much dead. That was the biggest surprised, and he just looked at the very young man more than a little worried. "What did you do!?" He asked, completely in shock. He wondered for a moment if the confusion was because of the speed or the blood loss, or both. It would easily be both.

"I shot him." Julian replied. The truth was, that much was obvious. Baxter on the floor was enough of proof. It was also obvious that Julian had a future as a marksman, as Baxter had clearly been dead almost immediately. He was going to speak to Meredith about that. As Julian had actually saved his life. The one thing that James didn't understand was why it had come to this at this point.

"Why?" He had to ask and hope that there was an answer. As a journalist he really hated things that he didn't understand. His entire career was based around finding the answers to questions like this, and he wanted to make sure that Julian wasn't mistreated. He had probably protected a lot of people, and saved at least one life, if not more. That was the important thing.

"Because he's been causing trouble for too long, and what he did to Amber was the last straw..." James didn't know exactly who Amber was, but based on context he could guess that Amber was the girl that Ben had been doing things with. He would no doubt find out during an inquest, but right now it didn't really matter very much. Julian though, clearly wasn't quite ready to stop talking. "Then you were just trying to help us."

"Julian, put the gun down." He said, holding his hand out. The important thing at this moment was that Julian needed to look non-threatening when the FBI inevitably came in. the last thing James wanted was for Julian to be hurt. He knew the ways to avoid that, but getting it out was definitely a lot more difficult than it normally would be.

"I stopped him now. It doesn't matter anymore." Now it seemed that Julian was almost as surprised and shocked as James was, or maybe that was just the way he was interpreting things. He'd managed to hold it together until now, but the adrenaline was giving way to the lack of blood now.

"Put the weapon in the corner, kneel down and put your hands behind your head." Those were the instructions he remembered Meredith drilling in to him when she was preparing him for his first, or was it his second, posting in a war zone. She'd always tried to make sure that he'd be OK. It stuck, even when he had a headache, and was exhausted. "Don't resist."

"You have a lot of advice." Julian seemed surprised, and James had to think of the easiest way to explain it. Given that he wasn't completely sure exactly how he knew, other than that Meredith had shown him, and it had been practical knowledge on more than one occasion. Maybe that was all he could say.

"I've been arrested a few times, and my girlfriend likes to practice on me." He tried to laugh, but it just led to a very loud cough. He was really trying to focus, but the more he did the harder it was to hold on, and the more he realised he was sliding down a hole.

Julian suddenly got up again and started to pace. James jumped a little when he did, and just looked up. It was a worrying problem now. He was watching Julian, who suddenly just started mumbling to himself, loudly enough that James could hear him. "I shouldn't have killed him. Either of them." James just nodded, again following Julian with his eyes and getting more concerned, but after a second he continued, before James could do anything at all. "But it was the only choice."

"You did what you had to do, and you were defending others. I will give evidence for you." He wasn't sure he was speaking clearly anymore. At least it was taking a lot more effort to concentrate on speaking than it had been doing before. He was thinking what to say when he heard some moving behind the wall he leant against, realising that the door was about to burst open, so he looked to Julian. "Just don't resist. Julian."

"FBI!" Was the next shout, and both of them just jerked. Julian almost immediately dropped to the for, while James tried to move. He held his one hand up, but he couldn't move the arm he'd been shot in. He tried, but he just couldn't. It caused too much pain, and he really would have rather not passed out just yet.

"We're here." He shouted, then started coughing again. No matter how confused and light-headed he was beginning to feel, he felt like he needed to shout out that they were there and that right now they were safe. Julian was still on the floor, while the door burst open and two agents all but fell through the door.

"Hands in the air sir." One of the agents shouted, and James lifted the arm he could move a little higher. He tried to wave it so that the light caught it and they'd see. A moment later he saw that the agent hadn't lifted his gun, and he groaned a little, trying to move the arm. That had been a bad idea.

"I can't." He said in the end, deciding that rather than causing himself more pain he would try to explain that he could move his other arm. He'd got messages to the FBI, so he was sure they knew he was there, and he would have guessed they'd think he was injured too. It was really the only thing he could do.

"In the air." The Agent motioned again and he leant back, trying to show the wound in his arm. he was pretty certain that it would be more than a little visible, and while he hated that he was having to use that as a reason, but he physically couldn't.

"I can't I was shot." He repeated, more forcefully, then he started to cough again. All he could do at this point was tell them who he was, why he was there, and then possibly he would be able to get out of here freely. Surely they had to know they were looking for James. "My name is James Lathom, I'm a reporter for CNN."

"Base, target acquired. We need medics." He heard the first agent start moving away, clearly to clear the rest of the building from anyone else who could possibly cause any of them any harm. the other agent was far too busy paying attention to the other guy to pay attention to James, at least for the moment.

"Thanks guys." He muttered after a second, then turned to be watching the altercation that was going on. He wanted to make sure that Julian wasn't treated too badly. It really helped that James had started to trust the teenager. Maybe that was a bad idea, but he had. "Don't be rough with him. He protected me."

"Can you tell us who shot you?" The agent shot over his shoulder, and it took James more than a moment to remember exactly who it was who had pulled the trigger. Really he should have known because he'd been thinking about it, but his brain didn't entirely want to pull the information to him.

Eventually, he looked down and realised exactly who it was that had brought them all to this point, to where any of them were gonna struggle with this, and the name of the person who had caused absolutely all of it. "Benjamin Baxter." He coughed out a few seconds later.

"Alright sir." It all came to this. Came to them believing him that Julian had killed Baxter in self defence. It wouldn't matter in the end. He knew that, and it was the worst thing. He didn't know how this was all going to work, he needed to go with the flow.

"James Lathom?" A new voice asked, and James turned around to see who was speaking to him. His vision swam a little, before a female agent showed her face. He didn't really recognise her, so maybe she was new. It didn't matter. He needed to focus more.

"I feel famous, everyone knows my name." He laughed and shook his head. It seemed far more hilarious than maybe it should have done, but he had lost a lot of blood. Normally this was his level of confusion after 15 pints. At least it meant he was going to be OK in the end. If he could survive the alcohol he could survive this.

"You are a little famous right now sir." The female agent laughed after a minute. It didn't escape his notice that nobody had actually introduced themselves to him. What were they expecting, what were they thinking. It didn't really matter. He just knew he was gonna be out of here soon.

"Well. I guess that's nice to know." He mumbled, the confusion coming in waves. Then he remembered that Baxter had told him that Meredith was there, and that she was helping. He wondered if she was actually there, and decided that it was just time to ask. "Is my girlfriend out there. Agent Brody?"

"She is, yes. We'll take you out when the paramedics clear you." The female agent replied again then smiled at him and walked away. Clearly to do whatever she now needed to get done to close all of this. But he knew that this was all going to be over soon.

"Great." James just smiled, taking a deep breath and leant back again. He knew that he'd lost a lot of blood, and that there were an awful lot of injuries, but he didn't care right now. What was important to him was that he had survived all of this, and that he was going to actually get to see Meredith again. It had been less than 36 hours, but he'd never really missed her quite as much as he had the last few days. He was going to see her soon, and that would help make all this real.


	18. Chapter 18

**Sooooo... happy ending? Of course. Happy ending. Merry Christmas!  
-Shin xx**

* * *

Beth knew as soon as the agents started coming out of the building that she should actually get Brody and make sure that she was one of the very first people that saw James. the truth was, if Beth was in that situation, she would want to be the first person to see Geraint. So letting Brody be the first person to see James was important. As she started walking she patted Brody on the shoulder. "Come on lady, we have something for you." That was all she said, deciding that giving details wouldn't work.

"What?" Brody snapped, clearly still not in the mood for anyone to help her, or to admit that she was hating all of this. She just wanted the man she loved back out, and until right now, Beth hadn't been able to change that. Now though, now she was going to be able to change it.

"Just follow me." She started walking, and then she saw Pride and tapped his shoulder too, deciding that pulling him out may be helpful too. She just decided that that was really going to be handy for back-up. It was already plainly obvious that she was going to need some help when Brody finally saw James. Probably to separate them again afterward. "You should probably come too."

"Where are we going?" Pride asked, but instantly fell into step with them. Beth knew from her own personal internal maths that there were a few minutes before the agents and paramedics would have James up from the cellar where the room he'd been in was located. So she didn't feel like she needed to rush, just took the two NCIS agents on a leisurely stroll.

"Up to the building." She pointed eventually, walking slower as she did. She knew that she wanted for Brody to see James coming out from the building. She knew that that was going to be so excited and happy to see him coming out, and to know that he was alright. That was what she desperately needed.

"Why?" Brody said, still a little snappier than she'd expected. Beth really hoped that this wasn't going to ruin anything. She both loved and hated this bit. She knew that it was safe and a good way to show it, but at the same time it was always a little harder to deal with people when you knew them.

"Guess." She said, that was all she could think because she recognised the paramedics coming out of the building. That meant that James was probably going to be coming out any second, and Brody was going to lose it. The paramedics were there, the agents were coming out slowly too.

At that moment they saw a stretcher brought out of the door, and Brody set of running, but they still both heard her shout as she ran. "James!" Was the only yell, and Beth just walked slowly down with Pride, keeping an eye on everything that was happening. She was glad to see how happy Brody was, and how much this mattered to her. That was the whole reason that Beth loved this job, that she got to make sure so many people lived happily ever after, after dealing with her team.

"I think she's happy." Pride said, chuckling a little. Beth had to agree, judging by the speed that Brody had when she made it down to James, and Beth was really happy about it. The rest of the conversation had been lost to distance, but it was obvious that everything had come to a head, and they were needing to just get ready to continue on with their lives.

"I almost don't want to break this up." She commented as she carried on walking down. They both paused a little outside of earshot, giving James and Brody a little bit of privacy. Beth would want privacy, and judging by Pride's ring, he'd know how they were feeling right now. Anyone in a committed relationship would.

"Gotta do what you gotta do." Pride responded after another few minutes. When she looked up at him the smirk told her everything that she needed to know. He was enjoying the fact that she was the person that was likely to have to ruin this. She decided that it should be something that was fair for them to make the odds even.

"Dammit Pride." She hissed loudly. It was annoying that he was as cocky about this as he was. She thought that it was probably going to be best if it was a random challenge, rather than something that just fell to her by default. It really wasn't fair that they would be default. "OK rock, paper, scissors for who speaks first."

"Have fun." Pride smirked at the result, and it was at that exact moment she realised that she had lost and would have to break up the cosy, happy moment. She really loved that this was what was happening, because all of it was making her happy. The truth was, they looked happy, and that was why she hated to break it up.

"I hate you." She said to Pride, walking over to the two lovebirds and shook her head. Breaking things like this up were not what she wanted to do, but she needed to speak to James, and she needed to start wrapping all of this up. "James, it's nice to finally meet you. Agent Bethan Callahan." She held her hand out, and shook the one that wasn't wrapped up, and the minute they let go his arm went back around Brody.

"Thanks for all this." James said after a second, tearing his eyes away from Brody to look at Beth for a moment. She couldn't blame him for not wanting to stop looking at the woman he loved, especially after something like this. It had been bad enough to be out here, working on it. She didn't want to put her back where James had been.

"It's just my job." She smiled and shook her head. James' smile told her everything she needed to know, and the fact that Brody hadn't let him go for even a moment told her everything. They had both been shaken by this situation, and Beth wouldn't be surprised if this case was the turning point for the two of them.

"Are you alright?" Brody asked, clearly not paying attention to anyone else, and immediately James' entire attention was refocused onto her. She stood watching them and just smiled, then looked up at Pride and laughed a little. That was all she'd needed to see that the pair needed to be left alone.

"We should leave them to it." She muttered as they looked away. That was important to her, and it was to him too she was sure. They both just wanted their friend to be happy. James seemed to be making her happy, and that was the most important thing for them. She knew that. Because they were good friends.

"You think?" Pride said with a smirk as soon as her eyes met his. They just turned away, leaving Brody and James stood at the stretcher. She just waited for Pride to catch up then stepped backward once more and shook her head. Of course this was the right thing for them to be doing.

"Imagine you've just been through that with someone you love?" She didn't know if he had, or if he and his wife had even stayed together. But the truth was that she knew how Brody and James felt, in both positions. She really wanted to just give them that break. "Wouldn't you want a few minutes of privacy?"

"You make a valid point." Pride smiled a few seconds later. He was giving her the same look that her husband did when she was being both stupid and sensible at once. It seemed to be a universal face that men pulled when they didn't understand what women were saying or thinking. She decided to just let it go and focus on something else.

"Was nice to meet you, SSA Pride." She smiled, and just shrugged a little. It was true, they hadn't worked together much, they hadn't spoken all that much but she could tell he was a good agent, and that he was a really interesting person to work for. That did mean that she understood why people like Pride lasted so long in this career.

"And you, SSA Callahan." Pride nodded looking at her. She was glad he seemed as happy with her as she was with him. It was good for her, and she was really happy about that. They were secondary players in all of this. The agent and the reporter behind them had been their priority.

She looked back at Brody again, seeing her back to giving James her full attention. Beth was really happy about seeing them, and seeing a happy ending, she couldn't help but think about what might happen to them this time. They had travelled so much, and they had gotten through so many things. "Think they'll make it this time?" She asked, looking at Pride as they both walked off.

"You know about them?" Pride asked, clearly completely surprised that Pride had known they'd been together before. That wasn't surprising, but Brody was very open about it.

"Yeah, I met Brody just after the first time they broke up. She was a very different person back then." The Brody she'd met then had been angry, and it had been obvious that she was broken. Several years on and this Brody was totally different. This was the Brody she liked more. "I like this Brody better."

"I very much like this Brody, too." He said, agreeing with her, clearly looking over Brody and James. Their smiled were obvious even from this distance, and that was helping her feel like she had made the right choice.

"I hope they make it." She honestly did. For a long time she'd worried that James was the wrong person or Brody, especially given the way she'd been when they first met, but she knew for certain that something between them had changed this time. Things were going to be really difficult for them for a while. "She's been worried out of her skin for the last twenty four hours, but she never wavered in helping the others. I gave her an order, she followed it."

"She's a good agent." Pride said, giving his expert opinion on Meredith Brody. It was definitely one that she could agree with. Meredith Brody had always been a good agent, and the fact that she'd managed through all of this while being worried for her loved one. That was the important thing.

"There's no doubt about that either. Keep an eye on them Pride, I got paperwork to do." She smiled, thinking about the fact that all she had left to do was paperwork, and the paperwork wasn't going to be heinous. There were no FBI deaths, and that was extremely important in situations like this. "Only two fatalities, neither of them caused by my guys, it's been a good day for me."

"Good day for us all." Pride nodded and smiled. She was about to turn around when Pride said one last thing. It was that moment she knew that they were really done, and she could finally go home. Not that she'd been waiting to be able to do that. "See you around Callahan."

"Bye." She smiled and looked back for a moment over the scene behind them then shrugged. It really wasn't that often that she got a win like this. That any of them did. But today, almost everyone had survived, and one of their own was saved. It was definitely a good day, and that was something she'd be able to take along with her to her next case. Hopefully, that was a while away, she needed a break first.


	19. Chapter 19

**So here we go, yet more happy.  
-Shin xx**

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Seeing Pride, LaSalle and Beth walk off, Brody finally got to see James, and she let out a breath of held air. He was sat up, and while he looked like he'd been through hell, he was clearly alive. She looked at him for a minute and then ran to him and wrapped her arms around him gently. "Hey, MB." He chuckled, wrapping his arms around her lightly too. It was nice to be held the way he was holding her now, even if it was like this.

"I was so scared, Jay." She admitted, and she didn't remember if she'd ever said exactly that to him in any situation. There was a probably a reason she could have done, but she didn't think she had. She'd loved him before, but she'd never let him in that far. "I tried to focus on my work, on getting everyone out of there safely, but I was so afraid I was going to lose you."

"You didn't lose me, and if I have my way, you never will." He smiled and pulled back a little to stroke her cheek. She just looked back at him, leaning against his hand softly. If he wanted to stay with her, then he was definitely going to have help keeping it that way. She didn't want to lose him either.

"Good." She eventually smiled pulling a little more away, otherwise this was going to be hard to stop. She really didn't want to move though, only because if she moved she'd feel like it wasn't entirely over. She wanted it to be over, she wanted to forget about this, but she wasn't sure she could, not yet.

"God I'm sore." James said eventually, grimacing as he moved a little. She frowned and kissed his cheek, he did look sore, and she knew exactly how it felt. Because she'd been in a similar place a few years earlier, after a case.

"You will be, you took a beating in there." That was obvious just from looking at him. There was so much that she could see, and she was almost certain a great number of things she couldn't. That made her worry all over again, but he didn't seem too bad. He was clearly in good spirits. "What happened?"

"They didn't like me very much." He grinned, and she couldn't help but shake her head and laugh loudly. She had heard him say that after more than one assignment, and it was therefore something they joked about whenever possible.

"You know what, I guessed that." She smirked a little, because that was the last thing he actually needed to tell her. Ever since they met she'd been dealing with the fact he made enemies the way other people breathed. That was just the way he rolled, it seemed. She could live with that though, providing he was OK.

"How did you guess?" He smirked stroking her arm. It seemed like he didn't want to let her go at all, and that maybe wasn't as surprising as she was thinking it was. He had probably thought he wasn't going to see her again, and maybe that was why he didn't want to let her go.

"Oh I don't know." She grinned and kissed his forehead. The truth was, in any given situation, he was likely to be the least popular person in the room. It seemed to be common with journalists. Brody was pretty certain that it was part of why he was in danger almost as regularly as she was. "You're hardly the most popular person around."

"You have plenty of evidence of that." They both knew that, and she was glad to see him joking about it. His reputation in the world was basically the last thing that James was worried about, which meant that oftentimes Brody was worrying more about what people thought of him. That did mean she was in possession of the evidence.

"Oh I do." She laughed, and held his hand tightly. It was a little ridiculous exactly how much evidence she had on him and his many brushes with the people who hated him. She had to live with all these things, and she hated every single person who had sent a random threat to her Jay.

"I don't try to get into trouble Merri, you know that right?" He clearly decided that she needed reminding that he wasn't like her. It did seem like he was getting himself into scrapes more than should be acceptable for someone who wasn't in a dangerous career.

All she could do was stroke his cheek softly and smile. "I know Jay." She honestly did. If he was looking for trouble, she was certain that he wouldn't be here right now. As he had the odd habit of getting the things that he looked for. That made her glad that whatever deity actually existed seemed to want to keep James alone, for a reason she didn't really understand. "We need to make a deal."

"We do?" James asked clearly a little concerned what she was going to say to him. That was somewhat amusing to her, because she enjoyed his confusion most of the time. It just meant that she'd once again been able to turn him, and that was something she worked on quite hard.

"Yeah." Brody just nodded, waiting to see what he'd say next. She just sort of wanted to make him realise that nothing was ever truly going to push her away. Not now. They'd fought through too much by this point for her to try and let him think about her doing that. It was the two of them now, and he was stuck with her.

"OK, what?" James asked after a few seconds, clearly looking at her as though she was nuts. Maybe he didn't guess where this was going, but that wasn't her thing. She liked to keep him guessing, and making him get it wrong.

"From now on, I'm the one who gets in trouble, and you don't." She decided that making it clear that he shouldn't be looking for dangerous assignments now. She knew had to take what he was offered, but she would have preferred if what he was offered was not in such a dangerous place as some of his previous assignments.

"MB, you get in plenty of trouble already." He laughed, then winced. She caught it, but decided to let him continue believing that she didn't. At least for a minute. The truth was, she barely got into any trouble now she was living in New Orleans.

"You have a point, though Pride doesn't let me get in as much trouble as I used to." She missed some of the things she used to get in trouble for on her other assignments. Most of them had been with James, though there were a few others.

"That's probably a good thing." James laughed and that caused her to laugh too, even if it was obviously painful for him, that was all she could do. Join in and laugh, making it an issue that she didn't seem to notice James wincing. If he wanted to play hard man she'd help. "Probably."

"You know, you're one of the only people I've ever met who can piss me off as much as you do and not make me want to kill you." She muttered thinking about the man she was planning to spend her life with. It was very possible, she knew that, and that was most of the reason she was happy he was still that person.

"You mean you don't want to kill me?" He asked with mock surprise on his face. Unsurprisingly , she only wanted to laugh a little bit.

She shrugged a little, she might as well admit that killing him just wasn't her highest priority right now. Beside, others had already given it a damn good try, and she just wasn't interested in arranging the funeral. "Not especially, not right now anyway."

"Good." James laughed then grimaced again. It was clearly very painful for him to move, and she was surprised he'd been able to stay sat up as long as he had. "God it hurts." He winced as he moved.

"We should get you to the hospital, so that you can get treated." She said, looking around for the paramedics who had been walking around, waving them over slowly. The fact that James was complaining worried her.

"It may be a good plan." He nodded, then took hold of her hand almost painfully tight. She rubbed his hand to loosen him up, but as she did that he pulled her close to him and frowned. "MB, promise me one thing."

"Yeah?" She asked, almost certain that she'd promise him almost anything at all. It would be the least she could do, and would also make her feel better about everything that had happened the last few days.

"Don't leave me." He said quietly, and she couldn't really imagine him saying it. Knowing that she'd heard it made it even harder for her to really believe that he wasn't badly hurt. He wouldn't be asking that if he wasn't worried and in pain.

"Never." She smiled and leant over to kiss him again then nodded to the paramedics, taking hold of his hand tightly. After only a few months she had gotten to the point where she couldn't imagine being without James. That was why she was going to veto as many dangerous assignments as she could. Right now though, getting him healed was the more important thing.


	20. Chapter 20

**And... this is the happiest. The last chapter, and I hope you all enjoyed it. I have no idea what my next fic will be, but I think I'm gonna go back to "Never Happy, Ever After", another Brody/James fic.  
-Shin xx**

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James was already fed up. He hated being in hospitals, he also hated being off his feet. So the fact that, since he got here, he'd not been able to do anything meant he was fed up. He wanted to get out of here, and go somewhere where he would be able to get around everything and not have nurses stopping him whenever he tried to do anything. "How long am I going to be here?"

"You have 5 broken ribs and too many stitches to count and you already want to leave?" She looked at him and all he could do was nod and smile. She knew him well enough that she would have already known that really. After a few minutes she just shook her head and laughed at him. "You're going to be transferred home tomorrow."

"Where's that?" He asked, only partly seriously. James knew that Merri wanted them to make a home in New Orleans, and he was happy with that. Technically though, right now he still didn't have a home. He had an apartment, but he had apartments in Washington and San Francisco too.

"New Orleans, where else?" Merri gave him an unreadable look, and he just smiled and squeezed her hand, hoping that could pass on to her that he was joking. She wouldn't always get it if he left her to work it out herself, especially when he was in a state like this. Things were literal, unless he showed her otherwise. But thinking about home, and them having somewhere together, it reminded him that he wanted to ask her something.

"Thinking about that, I wanted to bring something up with you." He hoped that sounded casual and unconcerning. There was nothing wrong, and he wasn't going to tell her he had some love child, but he realised how badly he'd started that conversation almost the moment he said it.

"James, you're meant to be asleep." Merri deflected, clearly she was actually a little concerned what he was going to say, but he needed to say it now. He'd started, and he had no idea if he'd ever have the nerve to do this again. He'd proposed once before, also to her, he couldn't do it again.

"Look, MB." He started, but she leant over and kissed him softly to stop him. Maybe she knew what he was going to say, or maybe she worried that she didn't, and that he was going to say something that she wouldn't like.

"You should sleep babe." She stroked his hair and made him feel a little guilty for being so bad at this part. She deserved to be treated like a princess and a Goddess all at once. He would dedicate his time to that, what time he had. They were both workaholics, she knew that part of his life just like he knew hers.

"I will, but I need to ask you something first." He pushed on, determined to do it now. It wasn't going to be like how he wished, and if he got the result he wanted frome this, he'd be more surprised than anyone.

"What?" It was becoming obvious to Merri, and probably anyone else that was in the general vicinity. He was beginning to annoy himself with this flip flopping. It was not what he wanted.

"Look, I didn't plan this, and I don't have a ring or really anything that I should have to ask you this again, but after all that's happened I just..." Rambling, that was not how this was supposed to start. This was supposed to start all sweet and suave. Now he just needed to embrace his failure.

He stopped speaking again and just looked at her for a moment. "Babe. Speak." Merri pushed him and smiled a little, apparently she knew he was beginning to falter. How she knew he'd never understand, but the fact was she was right, and hearing her gentle reminder to calm was enough to remind him he needed to do that.

"Will you marry me?" That was not how he'd intended to ask that question. He'd had a plan and it had been so very different from this. But this was where they were right now, and this was what they had come too. This was probably the worst proposal she'd ever gotten, but he couldn't help it. He just needed to ask her.

"James." She tried to stop him, but he just picked up her hand and kissed it softly. He wasn't going to let her say no without explaining his reasons for asking. They were taking things slowly, or they were meant too, but that had all changed. It had changed him, and probably her too. He knew in his job he could be in danger, and he expected that when he was overseas. He hadn't expected it in the US. For some reason, he'd just thought he'd be safer here. Maybe that was why he was so certain now.

"I know. I know that last time I asked that question and then six months later I was gone, but that is not going to happen again." He was not going to leave her by choice, not again. James had made that mistake once already in his life, and he definitely wasn't going to do it again. He didn't want to think about living without her, or letting her get away again. "If this experience taught me anything, it's that I can't bear thinking about never seeing you again."

"What?" Merri asked, clearly a little confused about his meaning. He couldn't blame her, because she hadn't listened to his evidence, even though nobody was going to be prosecuted. They'd still needed his official count of what had happened. He had told them, and now he needed to tell Merri what had happened in that room.

"In that room, before Ben... He made me watch you help out the window. Told me then that I would never see you again." OK, so it had been more than that. He'd threatened to kill Merri before killing him, but she didn't need to know that. "It cut too deep, and I never want to think about that again." He actually hated that he was having to think about it just to tell her why he was asking her to marry him again. "I want to be able to tell you every day that I love you whether that's in person or on the phone or by the internet."

"Baby." She sighed and put her finger on his lips, stopping him talking anymore. It was probably lucky that she'd done that, because he was certain that he wouldn't have stopped talking if she hadn't done that. "OK. Let's do this."

"Wait. Really?" He asked, stopping in his tracks. He wasn't sure if he had ever really expected her to say yes, or he hadn't been until he was in the middle of asking her. So now he was a little taken aback, and taking a few seconds to adjust to the answer. Then he just broke out into a smile.

"In the space of three months I've had to think seriously about losing you twice. I know that we're not the normal relationship I thought I wanted, but I said in Dubai I wanted you and maybe the normal that I wanted wasn't what I needed." He remembered that conversation. It was the first time she'd said she loved him since they'd reunited. He would always remember that. "I need you, and I love you."

"You said it again." He grinned, because she'd once said she wasn't going to say either of those things again. She clearly had though, and he was going to keep teasing her about it. Because she would expect nothing less.

Merri smirked, and James laughed loudly. It felt good for him to be being teased by her again. It mattered a lot, in situations like this, that he felt comfortable. Merri's teasing always brought that about. He didn't understand why, entirely, but it did. "I know I did. What you gonna do about that."

"There is a lot I could do, but these broken ribs say I mustn't." He couldn't help but joke about it. He wished that the broken ribs were not there. If they weren't, what he and Merri were doing right now would be so very, very different.

"Did you just make a sex joke?" Merri asked and burst out laughing loudly after a minute then shook her head, which made him laugh again even more. She climbed up on the bed next to him and kissed his cheek, and he just wrapped his arm around her laughing as she shook her head. "Asshole."

"Wow, this whole 'not insulting' me thing lasted a really long time." He picked on her a little. That was a good thing too. He didn't think their life would be the same if they didn't pick on each other the way they'd gotten used to doing.

"Shut up." She laughed after a few seconds and after a minute he started laughing too. That was exactly what he'd needed, and probably what she'd needed too. Right now, it was most important that they just start putting this all behind them.

"Make me." He threatened, watching as Merri's face split into a much wider smile. He loved seeing that smile, the one she gave when she was truly happy. Clearly, she was thinking about all the possible ways she could make him shut up, which he'd enjoy too probably.

"Gladly." She smiled, and he pulled her down to kiss him. For the second time she agreed to marry him. Sure, it had taken him almost dying and, yeah, it wasn't the nicest of situations for the two of them to have been through, but he knew this was probably the only thing that would have pushed them back in that direction. The truth was, he couldn't imagine being with anyone else, or spending his life with someone who wasn't Meredith. When he was better, he'd take her somewhere and he'd prove to her they'd made the right choice. They both had.


End file.
